The Great Figure Visions of America Quotes

In addition to its spiritual connotations, the title also sounds a bit like an advertisement. (Step right up, ladies and gents – see "The Great Figure." Only two bucks a pop!) The poem makes technology and the American city sound mysterious and exciting.

The beginning of the poem combines a natural image (rain) with man-made city lights. The city isn't just some impersonal, anonymous place. It's a living thing that changes like (and with) the weather.

The golden figure combines traditional religious imagery (think gold crosses or the halos of saints) with American showiness and the suggestion of money.

Perhaps no other word could capture the American metropolis better than this one. The word "moving" occurs right in the middle of the poem – it is central to the image of modern life that Williams presents. Like the fire truck, Americans are in a state of hectic tension.

The city feels rather big and anonymous at the end of the poem. The wheels' echo rumbles through the streets like an unnatural storm. Is the word "dark" meant to be negative?