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The Collected Poems of Tennessee Williams
In this edition of The Collected Poems of Tennessee Williams, all of the playwright/poet's previously collected and uncollected published poems, including poems from the plays, have been assembled, accompanied by explanatory notes and selected variants.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published April 1, 2002
About the author
Tennessee Williams
786 books3,849 followersThomas Lanier Williams III, better known by the nickname Tennessee Williams, was a major American playwright of the twentieth century who received many of the top theatrical awards for his work. He moved to New Orleans in 1939 and changed his name to "Tennessee," the state of his father's birth.
Raised in St. Louis, Missouri, after years of obscurity, at age 33 he became famous with the success of The Glass Menagerie (1944) in New York City. This play closely reflected his own unhappy family background. It was the first of a string of successes, including A Streetcar Named Desire (1947), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955), Sweet Bird of Youth (1959), and The Night of the Iguana (1961). With his later work, he attempted a new style that did not appeal to audiences. His drama A Streetcar Named Desire is often numbered on short lists of the finest American plays of the 20th century, alongside Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night and Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman.
Much of Williams' most acclaimed work has been adapted for the cinema. He also wrote short stories, poetry, essays and a volume of memoirs. In 1979, four years before his death, Williams was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.
From Wikipedia
Raised in St. Louis, Missouri, after years of obscurity, at age 33 he became famous with the success of The Glass Menagerie (1944) in New York City. This play closely reflected his own unhappy family background. It was the first of a string of successes, including A Streetcar Named Desire (1947), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955), Sweet Bird of Youth (1959), and The Night of the Iguana (1961). With his later work, he attempted a new style that did not appeal to audiences. His drama A Streetcar Named Desire is often numbered on short lists of the finest American plays of the 20th century, alongside Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night and Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman.
Much of Williams' most acclaimed work has been adapted for the cinema. He also wrote short stories, poetry, essays and a volume of memoirs. In 1979, four years before his death, Williams was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.
From Wikipedia
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
January 13, 2018
Oh, my goodness...Poetry I can love!
I read a lot of poetry and I feel all the time that it is hit or miss. Some of it is so hard to wrap your head around. Williams poetry is for the people. I love it. It is like that album where it isn't just one or two hits you can listen to, but every song has you saying, "This is going to be the next one they put on the radio. The next #1."
Emily, watch out...I might have a new love.
I read a lot of poetry and I feel all the time that it is hit or miss. Some of it is so hard to wrap your head around. Williams poetry is for the people. I love it. It is like that album where it isn't just one or two hits you can listen to, but every song has you saying, "This is going to be the next one they put on the radio. The next #1."
Emily, watch out...I might have a new love.
June 1, 2026
An incredibly under-rated poet! Williams is just as incredible as a poet as he is as a playwright. It is difficult to imagine that he seriously doubted his skills as a poet. His writing is direct, raw and honest. I found myself really enjoying his work for its authentic quality. Among my favourite poems from him are the 'Man in the Dining Car' and 'Orpheus Descending'.
His poems are accessible and clear, but they are also simultaneously incredibly rich and layered. Williams' philosophy - though it was somewhat unclear and I will speak in generalised terms for the sake of convenience - was that poetry that was complex not only in its form, but its subject matter and its word choice was impressive, but it often ended up being an analytical exercise conducted out of respect. Williams' poetry however captured perfectly his philosophy: poetry should illicit an emotional response and bring pleasure. His work is incredibly charming to read, it comforts one, shows one beauty, shows one one's own flaws and you leave feeling better and with an impression that the world is richer and clearer to you.
It is an incredible shame that this work is not more spoken about. I would recommend this to anyone, it is a testament to the incredible power and capacity of poetry.
"....
the man in the dining car
ignored Wyoming,
was conscious only of what he wished to forget,
which clung to him all the closer because of his wanting to lose it..."
...
"...for you must learn, even you, what we have learned,
that some things are marked by their nature to be not completed
but only longed for and sought for a while and abandoned.
And you must learn, even you, what we have learned,
the passion there is for declivity in this world,
the impulse to fall that follows a rising fountain.
Now Orpheus, crawl, O shamefaced fugitive, crawl
back under the crumbling broken wall of yourself,
for you are not stars, sky-set in the shape of a lyre,
but the dust of those who have been dismembered by Furies!"
His poems are accessible and clear, but they are also simultaneously incredibly rich and layered. Williams' philosophy - though it was somewhat unclear and I will speak in generalised terms for the sake of convenience - was that poetry that was complex not only in its form, but its subject matter and its word choice was impressive, but it often ended up being an analytical exercise conducted out of respect. Williams' poetry however captured perfectly his philosophy: poetry should illicit an emotional response and bring pleasure. His work is incredibly charming to read, it comforts one, shows one beauty, shows one one's own flaws and you leave feeling better and with an impression that the world is richer and clearer to you.
It is an incredible shame that this work is not more spoken about. I would recommend this to anyone, it is a testament to the incredible power and capacity of poetry.
"....
the man in the dining car
ignored Wyoming,
was conscious only of what he wished to forget,
which clung to him all the closer because of his wanting to lose it..."
...
"...for you must learn, even you, what we have learned,
that some things are marked by their nature to be not completed
but only longed for and sought for a while and abandoned.
And you must learn, even you, what we have learned,
the passion there is for declivity in this world,
the impulse to fall that follows a rising fountain.
Now Orpheus, crawl, O shamefaced fugitive, crawl
back under the crumbling broken wall of yourself,
for you are not stars, sky-set in the shape of a lyre,
but the dust of those who have been dismembered by Furies!"
August 31, 2021
THE DIVING BELL
I want to go under the sea in a diving-bell
and return to the surface with ominous wonders to tell.
I want to be able to say:
“The base is unstable, it’s probably unable
to weather much weather,
being all hung together by a couple of blond hairs caught
in a fine-toothed comb.”
I want to be able to say through a P.A. system,
authority giving a sonorous tone to the vowels,
“I’m speaking from Neptune’s bowels.
The sea’s floor is nacreous, filmy
with milk in the wind, the light of an overcast morning.”
I want to give warning:
“The pediment of our land is a lady’s comb,
the basement is moored to the dome
by a pair of blond hairs caught in a delicate
tortoise-shell comb.”
I think it is safer to roam
than to stay in a mortgaged home
And so —
I want to go under the sea in a bubble of glass
containing a sofa upholstered in green corduroy
and a girl for practical purposes and a boy
well-versed in the classics.
I want to be first to go down there where action is slow
but thought is surprisingly quick.
It’s only a dare-devil’s trick,
the length of a burning wick
between tu-whit and tu-who!
Oh, it’s pretty and blue
but not at all to be trusted. No matter how deep you go
there’s not very much below
the deceptive shimmer and glow
which is all for show
of sunken galleons encrusted with barnacles and doubloons,
an undersea tango palace with instant come and go moons . . .
I want to go under the sea in a diving-bell
and return to the surface with ominous wonders to tell.
I want to be able to say:
“The base is unstable, it’s probably unable
to weather much weather,
being all hung together by a couple of blond hairs caught
in a fine-toothed comb.”
I want to be able to say through a P.A. system,
authority giving a sonorous tone to the vowels,
“I’m speaking from Neptune’s bowels.
The sea’s floor is nacreous, filmy
with milk in the wind, the light of an overcast morning.”
I want to give warning:
“The pediment of our land is a lady’s comb,
the basement is moored to the dome
by a pair of blond hairs caught in a delicate
tortoise-shell comb.”
I think it is safer to roam
than to stay in a mortgaged home
And so —
I want to go under the sea in a bubble of glass
containing a sofa upholstered in green corduroy
and a girl for practical purposes and a boy
well-versed in the classics.
I want to be first to go down there where action is slow
but thought is surprisingly quick.
It’s only a dare-devil’s trick,
the length of a burning wick
between tu-whit and tu-who!
Oh, it’s pretty and blue
but not at all to be trusted. No matter how deep you go
there’s not very much below
the deceptive shimmer and glow
which is all for show
of sunken galleons encrusted with barnacles and doubloons,
an undersea tango palace with instant come and go moons . . .
May 21, 2019
For some reason I was surprised that Tennessee Williams wrote poetry. The poetry is actually good (no surprise there!) but somehow doesn't grab me the was Donald Hall or Mary Oliver or Auden do.
July 14, 2019
The amazing ability of Tennessee Williams to turn a phrase prevails though his poetry dating from high school into his 60s. An interesting study.
June 1, 2022
"So little is so much and is finally all."
Read
October 10, 2022We Have Not Long to Love is so beautiful <33333333 Go d I love it "The tender things are those
we fold away/Coarse fabrics are the ones for common wear."
we fold away/Coarse fabrics are the ones for common wear."
July 12, 2025
10 thousand stars for "We Have Not Long to Love" 3 stars for everything else. More of a reference source than a read-through book
March 12, 2014
As a big fan of Williams' plays, I was curious to pick up this book of his poetry. Overall, I wasn't extremely impressed but a few stuck with me quite a bit such as The Wine Drinkers and What's Next on The Agenda, Mr. Williams? and The Little Town. Being fascinated with Williams' life it was interesting to see more writing on his drinking habits, the psych ward, family issues, problems with insomnia, and his relationships with men and women.
February 25, 2011
Historically interesting to fans of Williams and GLBT historians, these oh-so-frank poems lend insight into the man and the social mores he dissected in his works. Editorially, the section of verse from film and plays seems redundant to anyone other than an OCD completist. The cover art by Brian Rea and the accompanying CD are nice additions to this volume.
February 9, 2011
ADORE IT.
July 21, 2012
Tactile poetry.
April 4, 2013
Really not the greatest poems ever written, but so much fun if you're a fan of Tennessee! Plus, my edition came with a CD of the author HIMSELF reading a few of his poems which is so very cool!
January 10, 2015
Some of these were nice. I was in a rush to finish this, though, not the best way to digest poetry. Then again, it's sort of a mish-mosh of his material.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews