The American Idiom

Among the aspects of William Carlos Williams' life which I won't be able to discuss in my paper due to length constraints is his desire to capture the American idiom in metrical form. He called this the "variable foot," an irregular response to the strict regularities of English verse. Rather than rigid, he believed that meter should be flexible, yet still mimic the patterns of speech, particularly American speech.

While his later years consisted of experimenting with this concept, he never managed to perfect it. He claimed that even the poems that came close were "too regular." The variable foot is not a precise metrical format, and by definition it must vary with the tone and weight of the poem. Even if he had succeeded once, that would be no guarantee of continued success, because unlike iambic pentameter or hexameter or any other measured meter, it cannot be universally defined and applied.

In concept, a meter that mimics speech patterns, remains flexible but rhythmic, and does all the other things Williams sought in the variable foot would be ideal for poets everywhere. In practice, it is no better than the metrical patterns Williams scorned - merely different.

The American idiom is a matter related to the variable foot, but it is not the same thing. Williams believed that all Americans shared some characteristic speech patterns. His work typically focused on the local rather than the universal, but the American character and the American voice were ever-present themes in his poems and novels alike.

That the vast diversity of the United States America - a country larger than the European continent, and with as many subcultures - has produced one unified voice seems unrealistic and, perhaps, optimistic. Journeying across state lines reveals new dialects and customs. Even schools within the same state develop their own vocabulary of slang terminology. Maybe, with more time, Williams could have distilled the differences and found the common American voice. Maybe he could have helped a disjointed chorus harmonize.