The Revelation on a "side street": William Carlos Williams, Selden Rodman, and the Archival Recovery of "Moldy Skeleton"

abstract:This article recounts the recovery of an unpublished William Carlos Williams poem entitled "Moldy Skeleton" that is in the American Heritage Center at the University of Wyoming. Since this poem was found among correspondence in the Selden Rodman collection, the article examines the relationship that this poet and critic had with Williams. It considers Rodman's selection of Williams's poetry for several anthologies, as well as his published reviews of Williams's work. It also provides background about Williams's composition of "Moldy Skeleton." Besides publishing this poem for the first time, the article shares insightful commentary from several notable Williams scholars.