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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


A PORTRAIT IN GREYS by WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS

Poem Explanation Poet Analysis

First Line: WILL IT NEVER BE POSSIBLE
Last Line: WHERE IT IS LEVEL AND UNDISTURBED BY COLORS.
Subject(s): COLORS;

Will it never be possible
to separate you from your greyness?
Must you be always sinking backward
into your grey-brown landscapes -- and trees
always in the distance, always against
a grey sky?
Must I be always
moving counter to you? Is there no place
where we can be at peace together
and the motion of our drawing apart
be altogether taken up?
I see myself
standing upon your shoulders touching
a grey, broken sky --
but you, weighted down with me,
yet gripping my ankles, -- move
laboriously on,
where it is level and undisturbed by colors.



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