The Poor

The Poor - fact Summary

Published in Spring and All

This short lyric, published in William Carlos Williams's 1923 collection Spring and All, draws directly on his work as a physician. It presents a brief, observable scene in which a school doctor’s repeated admonitions about lice first provoke resentment among poor parents but eventually make him familiar, even a trusted adviser. The poem compresses social distance, professional duty, and reluctant intimacy into a single anecdotal moment.