William Carlos Williams

Suzanne

Suzanne - form Summary

Refrain Creates Circular Urgency

Williams uses free verse and terse lines to create a breathless, immediate scene of a child calling “Paul” and shouting about the moon. Repetition and repeated exclamations mimic an urgent knock on glass and produce circular motion; the poem loops back to its opening cry. The sparse language and direct address make the voice vivid while refusing narrative closure, leaving the reader with the echo of interruption rather than explanation.

Read Complete Analyses

Brother Paul! look! —but he rushes to a different window. The moon! I heard shrieks and thought: What's that? That's just Suzanne talking to the moon! Pounding on the window with both fists: Paul! Paul! —and talking to the moon. Shrieking and pounding the glass with both fists! Brother Paul! the moon!

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