The Spanish American Roots of William Carlos Williams

William Carlos Williams wrote from an all-encompassing American vision that recalls the spirit of Walt Whitman. Paradoxically, though, this most-American poet sprang from foreign roots--a Puerto Rican mother and a father who was an English-born Caribbean islander. In this poetically evocative work, Julio Marzán explores the Latin American roots of Williams' poetry. In particular, he focuses on the dualities and contradictions between Williams' public, North American persona, "Bill," and his private, poetically encrypted Latin persona, "Carlos." He shows how Williams' poetry draws on Latin American and Spanish sources, particularly the poetry of Spaniard Luis de Góngora, to encode a Latin subtext in poems that ostensibly present a mainstream, Anglo vision. These explorations uncover a wealth of complexity in Williams and his poetry. Reflecting the experience of many immigrants, his life and work embody the unreconcilable desires to assimilate and win acceptance in a new land while remaining separate and immersed in the beloved culture of one's birth.