Get out the microscope, because we’re going through this poem line-by-line.
Lines 24-27
But now the stark dignity of
entrance-Still, the profound change
has come upon them: rooted, they
grip down and begin to awaken
- But… we’re not quite there yet. The poem gets ahead of itself.
- This poem isn’t about things actually happening – it’s about things beginning to happen. The word "entrance" is really key here. We’re just setting the stage for spring, not actually watching the play that’s about to start.
- If Williams speeded things up in the last few lines, now he slows them down again.
- Don’t believe us? Try saying "stark dignity" a few times. Feel how serious-sounding those words are, how they pull down the corners of your mouth.
- We’re back at the beginning point, in a way, but something has changed. Down at the roots, things are waking up. We’re looking for things to happen on the surface, but the real changes are going on underground.