Margaret Barry
Interpreting Literature MWF 9am
Dr. Taylor
February 5, 2016
Poem explication
In William Carlos Williams poem “The Crowd at the Ball Game” the speaker at first glance is seemingly talking about a crowd of people cheering on their favorite team at a baseball game. But upon farther analysis, there may be a deeper meaning. The speaker may have been at the ball game and witnessed the crowd first hand and the audience is someone who was not at the ball game.
The first stanza states “The crowd at the ball game is moved uniformly”. Which puts the setting at a baseball stadium. Particularly an exciting ball game that has the crowd excited. The claims says the “crowd is moving uniformly”. Meaning they were acting in conformity to a standard, and without diversity from one another (OED). The standard they were conforming to could be the standard action you partake in at a ball game. Such as eating peanuts, cheering for your team and booing at the opponent. And chances are the entire stadium is doing the same thing at the same time.
The second stanza says “by a spirit of uselessness which delights them”. This may …show more content…
The fourth line says “and the escape, the error the flash of genius”. The “escape” refers to the crowd farther distancing themselves for the real world and fully investing themselves into the game. They are letting go of outside stressors and focusing primarily on the game. The second part of the line says “the error the flash of genius”. “Error” meaning the mistakes of a play or player, resulting in a communal groan from the crowd, maybe even a shout of “My grandma can catch better than that”. “Flash of genius” being the opposite of error. The Oxford English Dictionary defines genius as a supernatural being. Because after a player makes an amazing play that may defy gravity or physics, he is no longer a human playing a game, he is elevated to a god or super star by the
Interpreting Literature MWF 9am
Dr. Taylor
February 5, 2016
Poem explication
In William Carlos Williams poem “The Crowd at the Ball Game” the speaker at first glance is seemingly talking about a crowd of people cheering on their favorite team at a baseball game. But upon farther analysis, there may be a deeper meaning. The speaker may have been at the ball game and witnessed the crowd first hand and the audience is someone who was not at the ball game.
The first stanza states “The crowd at the ball game is moved uniformly”. Which puts the setting at a baseball stadium. Particularly an exciting ball game that has the crowd excited. The claims says the “crowd is moving uniformly”. Meaning they were acting in conformity to a standard, and without diversity from one another (OED). The standard they were conforming to could be the standard action you partake in at a ball game. Such as eating peanuts, cheering for your team and booing at the opponent. And chances are the entire stadium is doing the same thing at the same time.
The second stanza says “by a spirit of uselessness which delights them”. This may …show more content…
The fourth line says “and the escape, the error the flash of genius”. The “escape” refers to the crowd farther distancing themselves for the real world and fully investing themselves into the game. They are letting go of outside stressors and focusing primarily on the game. The second part of the line says “the error the flash of genius”. “Error” meaning the mistakes of a play or player, resulting in a communal groan from the crowd, maybe even a shout of “My grandma can catch better than that”. “Flash of genius” being the opposite of error. The Oxford English Dictionary defines genius as a supernatural being. Because after a player makes an amazing play that may defy gravity or physics, he is no longer a human playing a game, he is elevated to a god or super star by the