William Stafford was an American poet who is remembered as a pacifist. He was the 20th Consult in Poetry to the Library of Congress, appointed in 1970. Over the course of his career, he won the National Book Award for Poetry, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and the Robert Frost Medal.
‘November’ by William Stafford is a heart-wrenching and important poem that was inspired by the WWII bombing of Hiroshima.
From the sky in the form of snow
comes the great forgiveness.
Rain grown soft, the flakes descend
and rest; they nestle close, each one
William Stafford’s ‘An Introduction to Some Poems’ is about the role of budding poets. The speaker says that every life is worth writing about, and a writer’s work is to share “authentic” human experiences.
‘Ask Me’ appears in William Stafford’s one of the best-known poetry collections, Ask Me: 100 Essential Poems of William Stafford. This metaphorical poem is bout life and memories.
‘At the Bomb Testing Site’ by William E. Stafford describes moments in a mostly unpopulated desert before the testing of a nuclear bomb.
William Stafford shows his unique style of writing, the use of imagery, and symbolism in his poem ‘Monuments for a Friendly Girl at a Tenth Grade Party.’ He uses flashbacks to his school days when he first met his childhood love, Ruth, and felt “alive.”
‘Traveling through the Dark’ by William Stafford is a powerful poem about life, death, and nature. The lines depict someone’s choices in regard to a dead, pregnant doe he finds on the side of the road.
‘You Reading This, Be Ready’ was written a few days before William Stafford’s death. This poem taps on the theme of savoring the present moment.
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