Not Only Is His Poetry Divine

....His voice is not bad either.

William Carlos Williams has a gorgeous voice. On a whim I took out Williams' voice recordings of his poetry. I fell in love with his calm, yet emotional, voice. I love that he was both a poet and doctor. There something great about an artist that has a "practical" profession. I feel it grounds the "artist" in reality, which otherwise, without the experience of everyday life render them a bit fake.

Here's
a recording of several poems, including one of my favorites (third poem),

Smell

OH strong-ridged and deeply hollowed
nose of mine! what will you not be smelling?
What tactless asses we are, you and I, boney nose,
always indiscriminate, always unashamed,
and now it is the souring flowers of the bedreggled
poplars: a festering pulp on the wet earth
beneath them. With what deep thirst
we quicken our desires
to that rank odor of a passing springtime!
Can you not be decent? Can you not reserve your ardors
for something less unlovely? What girl will care
for us, do you think, if we continue in these ways?
Must you taste everything? Must you know everything?
Must you have a part in everything?

Whenever I listen to these recordings I'm reminded that poetry is meant to be read out loud.