Tract by William Carlos Williams

¶ … Tract" by William Carlos Williams Throughout the poem, Williams uses free verse, which results in "Tract" reading more like prose than traditional poetry. This is one of the main concerns Williams an other modern poets had with creating their work. They were concerned with creating new forms of creating art an poetry. A sense of poetic evolution is at the heart of this type of art.

In his essay, William Carlos Williams speaks of "dissimilarity to all other things" that should be pervasive in all new forms of poetry for it to have any value beyond imitating existing forms (Williams, p. 347). This is then also Williams' ideal in using the element of fragmentation. In the first stanza of "Tract," the speaker begins logically enough, with an apparent wish to teach the townspeople about conducting funerals. Then, suddenly, he refers to a troop of artists.

After this line, the second-last line of the stanza refers to scouring "the world," as if it is detrimental the ability of the townspeople to learn about performing funerals. These ideas are somewhat fragmented, as they seem to have nothing in common. This is also where the idea of imagination comes in, for which Williams displays a great amount of reverence in his essay (Williams, p. 347). Indeed, he compares imagination that accompany words to the Saeter girls running along to music by Peer Gynt.

In stanza 2 of the poem, Williams begins with his design of the hearse. This stanza appears to include the two modernist themes of contrasting high and low culture, as well as an emphasis on the irrational. In his design of the hearse, the speaker suggests that it should be neither black, white, or polished. Instead, it should be "weathered -- like a farm wagon…" Usually, funerals are symbolic of lavish expense and representative of high culture.

Williams suggests that this is unnecessary and that a farm wagon would do as well for the hearse. Hi suggestions for the wheels becomes quite irrational when he suggests either gilt wheels or no wheels at all. In fact, the entire hearse is to be "a rough dray to drag over the ground." In terms of the general requirements of a funeral, no wheels would certainly be impractical, as the vehicle would fall to pieces before reaching the grave site.

Later in the poem, the speaker appears to revise this idea when, in stanza 4, he provides a summary of the ideal hearse: a simple vehicle, no top, no windows, and gilt wheels. Gilt wheels are, however, also somewhat impractical; since it would be applied cheaply, it is likely that it would quickly deteriorate and rub off in the rigors of the vehicle's movement. Despite these irrationalities, the poem does appear to search for a general sense of the authentic.

The third stanza is still focused on the hearse, suggesting that no windows be included, since the dead needs no protection from the elements, and would soon be exposed to even harsher elements than those on the final journey in the hearse. The element of the authentic here implies that the usual pomp and luxury of a funeral are not necessary. All that is needed is a simple vehicle and, as the following stanzas suggest, things that were important to the demised.