The Great Figure
The Great Figure - fact Summary
Published in Spring and All
Published in 1923 in Spring and All, this short lyric exemplifies Williams's Objectivist approach: a spare, precise record of an everyday moment. The poet—also a physician in Rutherford, New Jersey—turns a sudden visual impression into a single vivid image, the golden figure 5 on a red firetruck. The poem emphasizes immediacy and perception rather than narrative or metaphor.
Read Complete AnalysesAmong the rain and lights I saw the figure 5 in gold on a red firetruck moving tense unheeded to gong clangs siren howls and wheels rumbling through the dark city.
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