William Carlos Williams's “Spring and All,” first published in his 1923 collection of the same title, reflects on the season of spring as a time of renewal. Spring’s arrival, in this poem, is not sudden or glorious: instead, new life emerges slowly but surely from winter’s death and decay. Using spring as a symbol of hope, the poem suggests that renewal may be invisibly underway even in the bleakest times.

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• “Spring and All (By the road to the contagious hospital)” Summary

• “Spring and All (By the road to the contagious hospital)” Themes

  • 

    Rebirth and Renewal

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-27

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Spring and All (By the road to the contagious hospital)”

  • Lines 1-6

    By the road ...
    ... standing and fallen

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 7-13

    patches of standing ...
    ... leafless vines—

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 14-15

    Lifeless in appearance, ...
    ... dazed spring approaches—

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 16-19

    They enter the ...
    ... cold, familiar wind—

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 20-23

    Now the grass, ...
    ... outline of leaf

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 24-27

    But now the ...
    ... begin to awaken

    

    

    

    

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• “Spring and All (By the road to the contagious hospital)” Symbols

  • 

    Winter and Spring

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-27

• “Spring and All (By the road to the contagious hospital)” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

  • Alliteration

    

    

    

    

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    Where alliteration appears in the poem:

    • Line 4: “Beyond”
    • Line 5: “broad”
    • Line 6: “brown”
    • Line 8: “tall trees”
    • Line 9: “road,” “reddish”
    • Line 10: “twiggy”
    • Line 11: “stuff,” “small,” “trees”
    • Line 12: “leaves”
    • Line 13: “leafless”
    • Line 14: “Lifeless,” “sluggish”
    • Line 15: “spring”
    • Line 16: “new,” “naked”
    • Line 21: “curl,” “wildcarrot”
    • Line 23: “quickens,” “clarity”
    • Line 24: “stark”
    • Line 25: “Still”

  • Assonance

    

    

    

    

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    Where assonance appears in the poem:

    • Line 4: “northeast,” “Beyond”
    • Line 5: “broad,” “fields”
    • Line 6: “weeds,” “fallen”
    • Line 7: “patches,” “standing”
    • Line 8: “scattering”
    • Line 9: “All along”
    • Line 11: “trees”
    • Line 12: “leaves”
    • Line 13: “leafless”
    • Line 27: “grip,” “begin”

  • Consonance

    

    

    

    

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    Where consonance appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “contagious”
    • Line 2: “surge”
    • Line 3: “driven”
    • Line 4: “Beyond”
    • Line 5: “waste,” “broad,” “muddy,” “fields”
    • Line 6: “brown,” “dried,” “weeds,” “standing”
    • Line 7: “standing,” “water”
    • Line 8: “scattering,” “tall,” “trees”
    • Line 9: “road,” “reddish”
    • Line 10: “purplish,” “forked,” “upstanding”
    • Line 11: “stuff,” “bushes”
    • Line 12: “dead,” “leaves”
    • Line 13: “leafless”
    • Line 14: “Lifeless,” “appearance,” “sluggish”
    • Line 15: “spring,” “approaches”
    • Line 16: “enter,” “naked”
    • Line 17: “cold,” “uncertain”
    • Line 18: “All”
    • Line 19: “cold,” “familiar”
    • Line 21: “stiff,” “curl,” “wildcarrot,” “leaf”
    • Line 23: “quickens,” “clarity,” “outline”
    • Line 24: “stark”
    • Line 25: “entrance,” “Still”
    • Line 26: “rooted”
    • Line 27: “grip,” “down,” “begin,” “awaken”

  • Enjambment

    

    

    

    

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    Where enjambment appears in the poem:

    • Lines 2-3: “blue / mottled”
    • Lines 3-4: “the / northeast”
    • Lines 4-5: “the / waste”
    • Lines 9-10: “reddish / purplish,”
    • Lines 10-11: “twiggy / stuff”
    • Lines 11-12: “trees / with”
    • Lines 14-15: “sluggish / dazed”
    • Lines 17-18: “all / save”
    • Lines 18-19: “them / the”
    • Lines 20-21: “tomorrow / the”
    • Lines 24-25: “of / entrance”
    • Lines 25-26: “change / has”
    • Lines 26-27: “they / grip”

  • Repetition

    

    

    

    

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    Where repetition appears in the poem:

    • Line 4: “cold,” “wind”
    • Line 6: “brown,” “standing”
    • Line 7: “standing”
    • Line 8: “trees”
    • Line 10: “upstanding”
    • Line 11: “trees”
    • Line 12: “brown,” “leaves”
    • Line 13: “leafless”
    • Line 16: “enter”
    • Line 17: “cold”
    • Line 18: “enter”
    • Line 19: “cold,” “wind”
    • Line 21: “leaf”
    • Line 23: “leaf”
    • Line 25: “entrance”

  • Caesura

    

    

    

    

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    Where caesura appears in the poem:

    • Line 4: “northeast—a,” “wind. Beyond, the”
    • Line 5: “broad, muddy”
    • Line 6: “weeds, standing”
    • Line 10: “purplish, forked, upstanding, twiggy”
    • Line 12: “dead, brown”
    • Line 17: “cold, uncertain”
    • Line 18: “enter. All ”
    • Line 20: “grass, tomorrow”
    • Line 23: “quickens: clarity, outline”
    • Line 25: “entrance—Still, the”
    • Line 26: “them: rooted, they”

  • Personification

    

    

    

    

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    Where personification appears in the poem:

    • Lines 14-15: “Lifeless in appearance, sluggish / dazed spring approaches—”
    • Lines 16-18: “They enter the new world naked, / cold, uncertain of all / save that they enter.”
    • Lines 25-27: “Still, the profound change / has come upon them: rooted, they / grip down and begin to awaken”

  • Asyndeton

    

    

    

    

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    Where asyndeton appears in the poem:

    • Line 6: “with dried weeds, standing and fallen”
    • Lines 10-11: “purplish, forked, upstanding, twiggy / stuff”
    • Lines 16-17: “naked, / cold, uncertain of all”
    • Lines 20-21: “Now the grass, tomorrow / the stiff curl”
    • Line 23: “clarity, outline of leaf”

• “Spring and All (By the road to the contagious hospital)” 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.

  • Surge
  • Mottled
  • Waste
  • Twiggy
  • Upstanding
  • Wildcarrot
  • Quickens
  • Stark
  • (Location in poem: Lines 2-3: “the surge of the blue / mottled clouds”)

• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Spring and All (By the road to the contagious hospital)”

  • Form

  • Meter

  • Rhyme Scheme

• “Spring and All (By the road to the contagious hospital)” Speaker

• “Spring and All (By the road to the contagious hospital)” Setting

• Literary and Historical Context of “Spring and All (By the road to the contagious hospital)”

• More “Spring and All (By the road to the contagious hospital)” Resources

  • External Resources

    • The Poem Aloud — Listen to former U.S. poet laureate Robert Pinsky reading "Spring and All" aloud.

    • A Short Biography — Learn about Williams's life and work through the Poetry Foundation. 

    • A Reflection on the Poem — Read the President of the Library of America's response to the poem. 

    • Spring and All — Check out the rest of the book in which the poem first appeared.

  • LitCharts on Other Poems by William Carlos Williams

    • Landscape with the Fall of Icarus

    • Raleigh Was Right

    • The Red Wheelbarrow

    • The Widow's Lament in Springtime

    • This Is Just To Say

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