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A Great Twentieth Century Poet: William Stafford

William Stafford was a twentieth century poet. He was born on January 17, 1914 in Hutchinson, Kansas. He died on August 28, 1993 shortly after finishing up a poem early that morning. He was a pacifist and outdoorsman. Almost all of his poems have an outdoor theme or motif. William Stafford was also a conservationist. He was always looking for ways to conserve wildlife and nature. William Stafford lived an ordinary life. H

f the poems in this volume take place on a mountain side, the side of a road, or on a riverbank. The way Stafford presents his poems puts the reader in the location. He uses excellent imagery and makes the reader feel like they are in the poem. His poem “Hay-Cutters” is a great poem that uses imagery to set the reader in mood. In the poem he describes the workers getting ready to cut the field.

Time tells them. They go along touching

The grass, the feathery ends. When it feels

just so, they start the mowing machine,

leaving the land its long windrows,

and air strokes the leaves dry.

(Hay-Cutters poem-hunter.com)

The first line of the poem describes the workers feeling that the time has come to cut the fields. It also makes the reader feel like there is some sort of deadline because he makes us feel like the time is now and can no longer wait. In the next line he uses good sensory images. When he says “They go along touching the grass, the feathery ends” puts us in the time and place as if it were our hands running along the blades of grass. The use of the word feathery is a good sensory image. Then the next line he is saying that when it feels just right they start the mowing machine. This line could refer back to when they were running their hands along the feathery ends of the grass. When they ran their hands across it, it felt feathery, smooth, and crisp and that let them know it was time for it to be cut. He then brings up the subject of time again. He makes us feel like...