Spring and All by William Carlos William was a groundbreaking work that is typically described as a manifesto to the imagination. Containing alternating sections of prose and poetry, Williams maintains the idea of the capability for imagination to transform a new reality never seen before. In poems such as “The Red Wheelbarrow,” Williams makes a simple sentence come to life in ways both poetic and unexpected. I thought it would be beneficial to catalogue the reception of Williams unusual ideas in contrast to the other poets publishing at the same time as the three main dates of Spring and All‘s publication.
1923– first volume of the book is published by Robert McAlmon‘s Contact Publishing Co.
Also published at this time:
Thomas Seltzer publishes an extensive collection of E.E. Cummings‘ poetry, Tulips and Chimneys. This was the first work that exclusively contains Cummings’ poetry. A modernist contemporary of Williams, Cummings was also influential in the modernist tradition. The original manuscript contained 152 poems, but only 86 appeared in this volume.
At this time, Wallace Stevens also has his first book published by Knopf in 1923. Harmonium consisted of 85 poems with varying lengths and topics. The book was not well received and was remaindered after only having sold 100 copies. Although the book was not popular, Stevens’ poems frequently appeared in magazines. Poet and editor Harriet Monroe, who founded Poetry magazine, commented on Stevens’ original and modernist work:
“[T]here was never a more flavorously original poetic personality than the author of this book. If one seeks sheer beauty of sound, phrase, rhythm, packed with prismatically colored ideas by a mind at once wise and whimsical, one should open one’s eyes and ears, sharpen one’s wits, widen one’s sympathies to include rare and exquisite aspects of life, and then run for this volume of iridescent poems.”
1970– New Directions Publishing publishes a new version of Spring and All within the volume Imaginations.
Pulitzer Prize winner, John Ashbery, also published a volume of poetry at this time entitled, conveniently enough, The Double Dream of Spring. Ashbery is an American poet who published more than twenty volumes of poetry. Ashbery has frequently been compared to T.S. Eliot and is known for his controversial work in the postmodern tradition.
2011– New Directions Publishing issues new free-standing publication of Spring and All.
At this time, we have drifted far, far away from the time in which Williams’ wrote, but it is interesting to see how his legacy has carried over throughout the years. Dana Levin’s Sky Burial still resonates with the same kinds of imagery and originality that Spring and All resonates. Levin says, “[F]or me, imagination is a transpersonal force. Its products can come unbidden; when asked to be employed it is not tame, but surprises, frustrates, stuns, and confounds.” Even after all these years, poets still muse over the mysteries and complexities of the imagination, almost in the exact same manner as our dear William Carlos Williams.
This is an interesting overview, offering a glimpse of what was published around the time Williams issued SAL, and also a bit of the afterlife of that book. But the archival prompt is all about sticking with the year immediately surrounding the publication of Spring and All, and you range well beyond that while never really digging in to 1923 itself.