Asphodel, That Greeny Flower and Other Love Poems: That Greeny Flower

by William Carlos Williams

"Asphodel, That Greeny Flower," first published when William Carlos Williams was seventy-two, forms the heart of this new selection of his love poems. Robert Lowell praised "Asphodel" for delivering "to us what was impossible, something that was poetry and beyond poetry." Lyrical and moving, elegant and supple, it is charged with sheer musical pleasure. In addition to "Asphodel," eleven other important love poems have been chosen from the whole range of Williams' writing life--a life whose history of love is reviewed by Herbert Leibowitz in his incisive introduction. Leibowitz, editor of Parnassus: Poetry in Review magazine and author of forthcoming critical biography of William Carlos Williams, considers "Asphodel" in the context of Williams' singularly non-traditional love poetry, and distinguishes it as his "most eloquent and unorthodox love poem, a quest for 'abiding love' in the gathering shadows of death."

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0811212831
• ISBN13: 9780811212830
• Release Date: November 1994
• Publisher: New Directions Publishing Corporation
• Length: 60 Pages
• Weight: 0.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 4.8" x 7.0"

Customer Reviews

"We do not believe that love can so wreck our lives."

William Carlos Williams is rightly celebrated for his shorter poems, but it is the 30-odd page poem "Asphodel, That Greeny Flower" which is his masterpiece. Too many collections include only Book I of the poem, which in its entirety consists of three books and a coda and like any true work of art, can only be fully appreciated if you stand back to look at the whole. There are many beautiful lines in the first book, but without the rest of the poem to create a framework, the true beauty and significance of the poem is lost. This poem was written at the end of Williams' life, as a long poem for his wife, asking her forgiveness for his many indiscretions during their marriage. It is one of the most honest and emotionally moving poems written in the twentieth century, and structurally reflects the full development of Williams' craft. There are several other lovely, well-written poems in this collection, including The Ivy Crown and The Reawaking, but it is the title poem which makes Williams' a premiere American poet of the past century.