"As if you had never known me": William Carlos Williams's Letters to William Eric in the Pacific Theater, World War Two

Abstract

abstract:This article examines an epistolary exchange between William Carlos Williams and the poet's son, William Eric Williams, between 1942 and 1946, while the latter was stationed in the South Pacific as a US Navy medical officer during the Second World War. The letters chart a development in their relationship as father and son reflect on their respective achievements and hopes regarding writing, but also reveal a deepening of their mutual love for each other. The article also reflects on the themes of violence present in poems by Williams but notes the absence of war references made directly either in his poetry or in the exchanges between the poet father and his son during the conflict.