The title, "Spring and All," explains the stages of life or the cycle of life.
First of all, William Carlos Williams observes the three different stages of life. He begins with death. For example,
the first six lines suggest, through the use of imagery, he sees the "contagious hospital" which suggest disease and germ
The mottled clouds is symbolic of scattered people which tells the reader that bodies are everywhere.
Again, in the forth line, "a cold wind", the author uses imagery to bring us more aware of death. In addition, "the muddy fields
brown with dried weeds," colors this scene and vividly describes in detail the death imagery. These lines also uses the literary
device personification; The dried weeds, "standing and fallen," the sick and dead people he sees.
Although water represents life, in line seven the author again restates the death theme, "patches of standing water,"
through our sense of smell. This line tells us that a pungent odor surrounds this place and the water is not clean, for
he has repeated the death theme with descriptive words: dried, muddy, standing and fallen allowing one to senses to take over.
The words purplish and stuff of bushes visually describes what a dead body looks like. When the reader gets to line nine a transition
begins, for he seems to be traveling from the hospital with the words: all along the road. Lines fourteen and fifteen,
"Lifeless in appearance, sluggish dazed spring approaches-," the word choices such as-lifeless and sluggish reveal this death is slowing
converting into life. Moreover, the renewal begins in line sixteen, "They enter the new world naked." This renewal is symbolic of a
new born life-a baby; and the reference to the word cold again reminds the reader so much is to be learned, for the mind is still
somewhat dead even though new life has began. The first signs of hope emerges and rebirth begins.
Finally, the baby transcends into adulthood, and the stark truth...