staring at your computer screen
or hunched over your
typewriter
searching for words
don't do it Charles Bukowski – So You Want to be a Writer?
What is this?
The Genius annotation is the work of the Genius Editorial project. Our editors and contributors collaborate to create the most interesting and informative explanation of any line of text. It’s also a work in progress, so leave a suggestion if this or any annotation is missing something.
To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.
heart and your mind and your mouth
and your gut
don't do it Charles Bukowski – So You Want to be a Writer?
What is this?
The Genius annotation is the work of the Genius Editorial project. Our editors and contributors collaborate to create the most interesting and informative explanation of any line of text. It’s also a work in progress, so leave a suggestion if this or any annotation is missing something.
To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.
No, I’m serious. Unless the compulsion is akin to nausea, don’t do it
in spite of everything
don't do it Charles Bukowski – So You Want to be a Writer?
What is this?
The Genius annotation is the work of the Genius Editorial project. Our editors and contributors collaborate to create the most interesting and informative explanation of any line of text. It’s also a work in progress, so leave a suggestion if this or any annotation is missing something.
To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.
What is this?
The Genius annotation is the work of the Genius Editorial project. Our editors and contributors collaborate to create the most interesting and informative explanation of any line of text. It’s also a work in progress, so leave a suggestion if this or any annotation is missing something.
To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.
This is one of the most famous opening lines of any love poem in the English language, as instantly recognisable, almost, as “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18.
It begins with a rhetorical question, which Elizabeth Barrett Browning immediately answers herself, a device known as hypophora. It is a first-person narrative, addressed to her beloved ‘thee’, that is, Robert Browning. ‘Let me count the ways’ has an innocent, almost childlike effect as if she wants to ease the reader gently into something that will develop into a declaration of adult passion. The simple beginning is in contrast to what follows; highly intelligent and cleverly written. The mood is very much Elizabeth’s own internal search for the expression of her powerful feelings.
What is this?
The Genius annotation is the work of the Genius Editorial project. Our editors and contributors collaborate to create the most interesting and informative explanation of any line of text. It’s also a work in progress, so leave a suggestion if this or any annotation is missing something.
To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.
My shoulders, flanks, buttocks
Against the yellow drawn shades,- William Carlos Williams – Danse Russe
What is this?
The Genius annotation is the work of the Genius Editorial project. Our editors and contributors collaborate to create the most interesting and informative explanation of any line of text. It’s also a work in progress, so leave a suggestion if this or any annotation is missing something.
To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.
Williams then stands in the North room, admiring himself in the mirror. He’s no Adonis, but he revels in his body. To him, it is beautiful even in its age.
What is this?
The Genius annotation is the work of the Genius Editorial project. Our editors and contributors collaborate to create the most interesting and informative explanation of any line of text. It’s also a work in progress, so leave a suggestion if this or any annotation is missing something.
To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.
Clearly, Williams is not alone, with a wife in bed, a new baby and the nanny to keep his house together. His loneliness spawns from a lack of personal identity. He feels lonely because as a man he is unable to connect with the women in his house, as a poet he is unable to connect with the blue collar men in his world, and as a pediatrician he is unable to connect with the “real doctors” in his field. With this mantra, Williams embraces the fate he’s been given, and prepares himself to go on with the life he’s chosen, dignified and respected.
Dance naked, grotesquely
Before my mirror
Waving my shirt round my head
And singing softly to myself: William Carlos Williams – Danse Russe
What is this?
The Genius annotation is the work of the Genius Editorial project. Our editors and contributors collaborate to create the most interesting and informative explanation of any line of text. It’s also a work in progress, so leave a suggestion if this or any annotation is missing something.
To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.
And the baby and Kathleen
Are sleeping William Carlos Williams – Danse Russe
What is this?
The Genius annotation is the work of the Genius Editorial project. Our editors and contributors collaborate to create the most interesting and informative explanation of any line of text. It’s also a work in progress, so leave a suggestion if this or any annotation is missing something.
To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.
The speaker is a husband and father. He is isolated in his own
house, not only physically in his “north room”, but also as the sole male figure in a family of females or sexually ambiguous babies.
Kathleen refers to Kathleen McBride, the Williams' nanny, which places William Carlos Williams immediately in the position of speaker. This is a personal poem.
Husband, Father, Doctor, Poet, Baller
In silken mists
Above shining trees,- William Carlos Williams – Danse Russe
What is this?
The Genius annotation is the work of the Genius Editorial project. Our editors and contributors collaborate to create the most interesting and informative explanation of any line of text. It’s also a work in progress, so leave a suggestion if this or any annotation is missing something.
To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.
Beautiful morning imagery. The speaker is waking up to a rare moment of solitude and quiet.
2