Perhaps the most basic and essential function of poetry is to evoke a particular response in the reader. The poet, desiring to convey on emotion or inspiration, uses the imagination to create a structure that will properly communicate his state of mind. In essence he is attempting to bring himself and the reader closer, to establish a relationship. William Carlos Williams contends that "art gives the feeling of completion by revealing the oneness of experience" (194) This argument relies on the precept that art is reality is not nature or a reflection of nature but a completely original creation. And additionally, that art is holistic, where one can experience the whole of reality through a particular. A poet's task is to write poetry that the reader can identify with, something congruent with the thoughts of those he is writing for (or to). If this can be accomplished, a connection is established, and poetry can act as a catalyst to initiate the imagination. In my first paper this semester I argued that Whitman uses sexual imagery as a rhetorical tool to arouse the reader. The result of this is congruent emotions within poet and reader that demonstrate an effective use of tone, through which Whitman can address the reader. "The mystic deliria, the madness amorous, the utter abandonment,/ (Hark close and still what I now whisper to you" (77). Whitman is specking directly to the reader, through an all-encompassing god-like persona. In "Song of Myself" Whitman reinvents himself as all of reality, and through the use of tone and imagery (shot establishes a relationship) draws the reader into his world. Williams' poetry is an attempt to establish a communion, of sorts, with the reader, as well. His poetry is an exploration of momentary images, a jagged journey through personal perception, that the reader can relate to. Williams' diction and visual presentation...
