Erica Jones
Dr. Carrier
ENGL 4900
23 September 2014
By the Road to the Contagious Hospital
By the road to the contagious hospital 1 under the surge of the blue mottled clouds driven from the northeast-a cold wind. Beyond, the waste of broad, muddy fields 5 brown with dried weeds, standing and fallen

patches of standing water the scattering of tall trees

All along the road the reddish purplish, forked, upstanding, twiggy 10 stuff of bushes and small trees with dead, brown leaves under them leafless vines-

Lifeless in appearance, sluggish dazed spring approaches- 15

They enter the new world naked, cold, uncertain of all save that they enter. All about them the cold, familiar wind-

Now the grass, tomorrow 20 the stiff curl of wild carrot leaf
One by one objects are defined-
It quickens: clarity, outline of leaf

But now the stark dignity of entrance-Still, the profound change 25 has come upon them: rooted, they grip down and begin to awaken

-William Carlos Williams William Carlos Williams' poem at first glance does not seem complex, but once the reader peels the layers back there are levels that is not easily seen. Williams uses devices such as metaphors, language, and imagery to convey a beautiful experience. The most powerful part of this poem is the use of language and metaphors. Williams speaks about the transition from winter to spring comparing the process of nature to a child being born. Williams has no rhyme scheme and an irregular meter. The most powerful literary device is the language that he decided to use. Even the placement of the words drive the purpose of the poem. For example, in lines three and four, Williams ends the line with the word 'the'. The word the has no specific meaning in the English language, and is probably one of the weakest words. When Williams ended the line with the word 'the' he is speaking about the winter. It makes sense that he ends the line with the word the because winter is lifeless just like the word 'the'. In winter it is thought to be weak and yields no life, just like the word the. The most powerful word in this poem would be the world contagious. When speaking about the word contagious, an ugly image of disease and death. The question that plagues the reader is why would Williams use such an ugly word with such a beautiful experience. A theory could be is that the hospital is where life comes and goes. People die at the same place a child is being born. In this sense life is contagious and when a life leaves a body, life enters a body as well. I did not understand how such a beautiful event such as given birth is headed by the word contagious. The contagious hospital is where the baby is being born, the same place where life dies. The contagious hospital is not one to be a sad image, in fact going to the hospital to give birth is one of the happiest moments of a woman's life. Williams makes this poem show that there is a beauty and a parallel to giving birth and nature. Another powerful device that Williams uses are his metaphors. The entire poem is a metaphor. Williams constantly relates nature to a child entering this world, but he never says this directly. Williams write that "They enter the new world naked,/ cold,