Smell Poem by William Carlos Williams

Smell

Rating: 3.0


Oh strong-ridged and deeply hollowed
nose of mine! what will you not be smelling?
What tactless asses we are, you and I, boney nose,
always indiscriminate, always unashamed,
and now it is the souring flowers of the bedreggled
poplars: a festering pulp on the wet earth
beneath them. With what deep thirst
we quicken our desires
to that rank odor of a passing springtime!
Can you not be decent? Can you not reserve your ardors
for something less unlovely? What girl will care
for us, do you think, if we continue in these ways?
Must you taste everything? Must you know everything?
Must you have a part in everything?

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Kay Staley 19 October 2015

How quaintly he personifies the noes and talks directly to it, as if it has life.

1 1 Reply
Susan Williams 19 October 2015

This is certainly a different topic- the unattractive nose and how it smells both the rose and the rank with equal energy. Oddly enough, I enjoyed the piece.

26 1 Reply
Georgios Venetopoulos 19 October 2015

I wonder why you discontinue thy lines, sire.

0 2 Reply
Pranab K Chakraborty 19 October 2015

Intense and smart with passionate riding towards a valley of unending desire. Fantastic smell inspires the readers.

1 1 Reply
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