JOURNAL ARTICLE

"To Measure is All We Know": William Carlos Williams and the Science of Measurement.

  • Published In: Modernism/Modernity, 2023, v. 30, n. 3. P. 473 1 of 3

  • Database: Academic Search Ultimate 2 of 3

  • Authored By: Gelder, Christian R. 3 of 3

Abstract

Critics have routinely voiced their frustrations with William Carlos Williams's term 'measure'. But from the late 1930s onwards, he compared his idea of 'measure' to the science of measurement. This article suggests, firstly, that to fully appreciate Williams's measure, one must understand how the science of measurement frequently appeared in the vocabulary of a variety of contemporaneous critics of poetry. Secondly, by close reading Williams's long poem Paterson (1963), it suggests that by rejecting the term rhythm and reprising measure, Williams was attempting to define the knowledge practices proper to poetry in an era where to measure was to know. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Additional Information

  • Source:Modernism/Modernity. 2023/09, Vol. 30, Issue 3, p473
  • Document Type:Article
  • Subject Area:Literature and Writing
  • Publication Date:2023
  • ISSN:1071-6068
  • DOI:10.1353/mod.2023.a920253
  • Accession Number:175726564
  • Copyright Statement:Copyright of Modernism/Modernity is the property of Johns Hopkins University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

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