Sirikorn Detchanun

Mint

The Desolate Field

In the poem “The Desolate Field,” the word choice use by Williams Carlos Williams

reinforce the idea of loneliness and alienation. For him, who is facing the bad days all the sky is

taciturn and boundless. Also, love cannot give him comfort, instead this force is controlling him

and it all above him. As it shown in the text, “Vast and gray, the sky is a simulacrum to all but

him whose day are vast and gray. […]. And amazed my heat leaps at the thought of love vast and

gray yearning silently over me” (). From this quote, he expressed his loneliness and alienation

through the love, days, and sky. He felt there is no greater force of love that gives direction or

meaning to his life. This make his day “vast and gray”, leaving him feeling hopeless. At that

moment, the sky is empty and dark, which emphasize the idea of barrenness and alienation.