Pom Pongporn Wintakorn

1206
Matthew Bishop
August 24th, 2017

On “Complaint”

In the poem “Complaint”, Williams uses contrast to reveal a sense of wonder. It was past

midnight, weather was cold and roads were frozen. A doctor received a call from a great woman,

who is sick. He went straight to the woman’s house. Inside, he found a woman lying on her side.

She was sick and about to give birth to a child, he watched her suffering with compassion.

The poem stated the following

Here is a great woman

She is sick (9,11)

“Great” when describe a person means that person has power and strong. Williams mentioned

the “great” woman, who seems like a strong person, but she was sick and suffering.

the sun has sent one golden needle

and watch her misery

with compassion (19,21-22)

“Golden needle” in this poem referred to a syringe. Syringe often used to inject medicine into the

patience’s body to cure the sickness. Williams mentioned about the sun sent the “golden needle”,

but he still watched her misery with sympathy.

Both quotes above have contrast within them. He used contrast to create a sense of wonder of

how a great woman was sick and suffering. Moreover, “golden needle”, which referred as a

syringe that could cure the woman’s sickness, contrast with his action of watching her in misery

with compassion create a sense of doctor’s wonder about the cure he used. Therefore, a sense of

wonder was revealed by Williams’s used of contrast.