To Elsie

“To Elsie” is a free verse poem written in 1923 by American Imagist poet William Carlos Williams. It originally appeared in his full-length poetry collection Spring and All under the title “Poem Number XVIII.” Later, when it was republished in Williams’s Collected Poems (1934), it was given the title “To Elsie.” The poem is a response to the consumer trends and modernization of 1920s America and a call to action to reconnect with our own humanity.

Poet Biography

William Carlos Williams (1883-1963) was an American poet and medical practitioner best known for his Imagist free verse poetry. He grew up in a multicultural household and learned Spanish from his expatriate parents. Williams was born and lived most of his life in Rutherford, New Jersey, with a detour of several years’ study in Geneva, Paris, New York, Pennsylvania, and Leipzig. During these years he studied and trained extensively in medical practice, and, returning to Rutherford after his marriage, went on to become a family doctor there for many years. Williams spent his life balancing a dual career in both poetry and medicine, finding fulfilling success in both.

While studying in Pennsylvania, Williams became close friends with the Modernist poet Ezra Pound, who would have a profound influence on the former’s work.