Landscape with the Fall of Icarus

William Carlos Williams’s “Landscape with the Fall of Icarus” employs a loose form. It is made up of 21 short lines divided into seven stanzas of three lines each (tercets). The poem is in free verse, a hallmark of Williams’s style. This absence of a strict meter produces a flexible and fluid rhythm, enabling Williams to capture the natural cadence of language and the flow of thought, and it contributes a modern tone that is juxtaposed with Icarus’s ancient mythical status. The lack of punctuation and the use of enjambment (breaking up of the lines) also contributes to the flexibility and fluidity of the poem, going against classical traditions.

Though the poem has no strict meter, it is not without metrical properties. Most of the lines of the poem employ two stressed syllables (though a few have only one). The first line of several stanzas (Lines 1, 4, and 19) begins with an iamb (da-DUM) followed by an anapest (da-da-DUM). Similarly, while the poem lacks a sustained

Unlock all 19 pages of this Study Guide

Plus, gain access to 8,650+ more expert-written Study Guides.

Including features:

+ Mobile App

+ Printable PDF

+ Literary AI Tools

Unlock Full Library