Kenneth Slessor's "William Street," included in the poet's 1939 collection Five Bells: XX Poems, finds the beauty in urban grunge and chaos. The speaker vividly describes the sights, smells, and sounds of William Street, a major road in Sydney, Australia, that was once a notorious site of poverty, nightclubs, and prostitution. While admitting that the reader might find such an environment "ugly," the speaker finds its energy and authenticity "lovely."

• Read the full text of “William Street”

• “William Street” Summary

• “William Street” Themes

  • 

    The Intense Beauty of City Life

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-16

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “William Street”

  • Lines 1-4

    The red globe ...
    ... find it lovely.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 5-8

    Ghosts' trousers, like ...
    ... find it lovely.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 9-12

    Smells rich and ...
    ... find it lovely.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 13-16

    The dips and ...
    ... find it lovely.

    

    

    

    

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• “William Street” Symbols

  • 

    The Trousers

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Lines 5-7: “Ghosts' trousers, like the dangle of hung men, / in  pawn-shop windows, bumping knee by knee, / but none inside to suffer or condemn;”

• “William Street” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

  • Alliteration

    

    

    

    

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    Where alliteration appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “globe,” “light,” “liquor,” “green”
    • Line 3: “spilt,” “stones,” “stream”
    • Line 9: “Smells,” “rich,” “rasping,” “smoke,” “fat,” “fish”
    • Line 10: “puffs,” “paraffin”
    • Line 14: “hunger,” “heels”
    • Lines 15-15: “p / avements”
    • Line 15: “pasturage”

  • Imagery

    

    

    

    

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    Where imagery appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-3
    • Lines 5-6
    • Lines 9-11
    • Lines 13-15

  • Antithesis

    

    

    

    

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    Where antithesis appears in the poem:

    • Line 4: “You find this ugly, I find it lovely.”
    • Line 8: “You find this ugly, I find it lovely.”
    • Line 12: “You find it ugly, I find it lovely.”
    • Line 16: “You find this ugly, I find it lovely.”

  • Polysyndeton

    

    

    

    

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    Where polysyndeton appears in the poem:

    • Lines 9-10: “smoke and fat and fish / and puffs”

  • Repetition

    

    

    

    

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    Where repetition appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-2: “The red globe of light, the liquor green, / the pulsing arrows and the running fire”
    • Line 6: “knee by knee”
    • Line 8: “You find this ugly, I find it lovely.”
    • Line 9: “and,” “and”
    • Line 10: “and”
    • Line 12: “You find it ugly, I find it lovely.”
    • Line 16: “You find this ugly, I find it lovely.”

  • Sibilance

    

    

    

    

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    Where sibilance appears in the poem:

    • Line 3: “spilt,” “stones,” “stream”
    • Line 9: “Smells,” “rasping,” “smoke,” “fish”
    • Line 10: “puffs,” “nose”
    • Line 11: “grease,” “blesses onions,” “hiss”

• “William Street” Vocabulary

  Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

  • William Street
  • Dangle of hung men
  • Pawn-shop
  • Rasping
  • Paraffin
  • Crimp
  • Dips and Molls
  • Flip
  • Ranging
  • Pasturage
  • (Location in poem: )

• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “William Street”

  • Form

  • Meter

  • Rhyme Scheme

• “William Street” Speaker

• “William Street” Setting

• Literary and Historical Context of “William Street”

• More “William Street” Resources

  • External Resources

    • Slessor's Life and Work — Read a biography of Slessor and some additional poems via the Poetry Foundation. 

    • More About the Poet — An in-depth account of Slessor's life, provided by the Australian Dictionary of Biography.  

    • In Slessor's Own Hand — A collection of Slessor's handwritten poetry drafts hosted by the National Library of Australia. 

    • A Slessor Documentary — Listen to an ABC radio documentary about Slessor's life and literary contributions.

  • LitCharts on Other Poems by Kenneth Slessor

    • Beach Burial

    • Five Bells

    • Out of Time

    • Sleep

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