Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, PRIMROSE, by WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS



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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

PRIMROSE, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Yellow, yellow, yellow, yellow
Last Line: Green meadow and clouds the sky.
Subject(s): Summer; Yellow (color)


Yellow, yellow, yellow, yellow!
It is not a color.
It is summer!
It is the wind on a willow,
the lap of waves, the shadow
under a bush, a bird, a bluebird,
three herons, a dead hawk
rotting on a pole --
Clear yellow!
It is a piece of blue paper
in the grass or a threecluster of
green walnuts swaying, children
playing croquet or one boy
fishing, a man
swinging his pink fists
as he walks --
It is ladysthumb, forget-me-nots
in the ditch, moss under
the flange of the carrail, the
wavy lines in split rock, a
great oaktree --
It is a disinclination to be
five red petals or a rose, it is
a cluster of birdsbreast flowers
on a red stem six feet high,
four open yellow petals
above sepals curled
backward into reverse spikes --
Tufts of purple grass spot the
green meadow and clouds the sky.





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