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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

SLOW MOVEMENT by WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS

Poem Explanation Poet Analysis

First Line: ALL THOSE TREASURES THAT LIE IN THE LITTLE BOLTED BOX WHOSE TINY SPACE IS
Last Line: AS THEY ARE NOW.
All those treasures that lie in the little bolted box whose tiny space is
Mightier than the room of the stars, being secret and filled with dreams:
All those treasures -- I hold them in my hand -- are straining continually
Against the sides and the lid and the two ends of the little box in which I
guard them;
Crying that there is no sun come among them this great while and that they weary
of shining;
Calling me to fold back the lid of the little box and to give them sleep
finally.

But the night I am hiding from them, dear friend, is far more desperate than
their night!
And so I take pity on them and pretend to have lost the key to the little house
of my treasures,
For they would die of weariness were I to open it, and not be merely faint and
sleepy
As they are now.



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