What do you think?
The Ways We Touch: Poems
Includes
"Of History and Hope,"
the 1997 Presidential Inaugural Poem
When Miller Williams
read his Inaugural Poem, "Of History and Hope," to a world-wide
audience in January, his proverbial "fifteen minutes of fame"
lasted far less--somewhere between three and four minutes. That was long
enough to make a big impact on many. Said poet Paul Zimmer, one of the
millions in his viewing audience, "I came up out of my Lazy-Boy and
cheered loudly!"
Williams is an
American original whose poems have been praised for both the elegance
of their style and the simplicity of their language, for their wonderful
humor and genuine passion. The works in his newest collection, The
Ways We Touch, may be nostalgic or challenging, humorous or full of
moral fortitude; always Williams speaks with the kind of insight that
rises from wisdom and experience.
Praise for Williams's
earlier
"Miller
Williams is one of those writers whose books drag me snorkeling happily
along. Happy as a pig among truffles, I hurry to the next treasure."
-- William Stafford
"Most contemporary
poets might well go to him for lessons in the art of speaking plainly
in disciplined lines alive with emotional energy." -- X. J. Kennedy
"Better
than almost anything else being published." -- Donald Justice
"Of History and Hope,"
the 1997 Presidential Inaugural Poem
When Miller Williams
read his Inaugural Poem, "Of History and Hope," to a world-wide
audience in January, his proverbial "fifteen minutes of fame"
lasted far less--somewhere between three and four minutes. That was long
enough to make a big impact on many. Said poet Paul Zimmer, one of the
millions in his viewing audience, "I came up out of my Lazy-Boy and
cheered loudly!"
Williams is an
American original whose poems have been praised for both the elegance
of their style and the simplicity of their language, for their wonderful
humor and genuine passion. The works in his newest collection, The
Ways We Touch, may be nostalgic or challenging, humorous or full of
moral fortitude; always Williams speaks with the kind of insight that
rises from wisdom and experience.
Praise for Williams's
earlier
"Miller
Williams is one of those writers whose books drag me snorkeling happily
along. Happy as a pig among truffles, I hurry to the next treasure."
-- William Stafford
"Most contemporary
poets might well go to him for lessons in the art of speaking plainly
in disciplined lines alive with emotional energy." -- X. J. Kennedy
"Better
than almost anything else being published." -- Donald Justice
- GenresPoetry
88 pages, Hardcover
First published February 1, 1997
About the author
Miller Williams
45 books16 followersDied January 1, 2015.
Miller Williams is an American contemporary poet, as well as a translator and editor. He has authored over 25 books and won several awards for his poetry. His accomplishments have been chronicled in Arkansas Biography. He is perhaps best known for reading his poem "Of History and Hope" at the second inauguration of President Bill Clinton in 1997.
Williams was educated in Arkansas, first enrolling at Hendrix College in Conway and eventually transferring to Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, where he published his first collection of poems, Et Cetera, while getting his bachelor's degree in biology. He went on to get a masters in zoology at the University of Arkansas in 1952.
He taught in several universities in various capacities, first as a professor of biology and then of English literature, and in 1970 returned to the University of Arkansas as a member of the English Department and the creative writing program. In 1980 he helped found the University of Arkansas Press, where he served as director for nearly 20 years. He is currently a professor emeritus of literature at the University of Arkansas.
Williams is the father of Lucinda Williams, a three-time Grammy Award winning country music, folk, and rock singer, named "America's best songwriter" by TIME magazine in 2002.
Miller Williams is an American contemporary poet, as well as a translator and editor. He has authored over 25 books and won several awards for his poetry. His accomplishments have been chronicled in Arkansas Biography. He is perhaps best known for reading his poem "Of History and Hope" at the second inauguration of President Bill Clinton in 1997.
Williams was educated in Arkansas, first enrolling at Hendrix College in Conway and eventually transferring to Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, where he published his first collection of poems, Et Cetera, while getting his bachelor's degree in biology. He went on to get a masters in zoology at the University of Arkansas in 1952.
He taught in several universities in various capacities, first as a professor of biology and then of English literature, and in 1970 returned to the University of Arkansas as a member of the English Department and the creative writing program. In 1980 he helped found the University of Arkansas Press, where he served as director for nearly 20 years. He is currently a professor emeritus of literature at the University of Arkansas.
Williams is the father of Lucinda Williams, a three-time Grammy Award winning country music, folk, and rock singer, named "America's best songwriter" by TIME magazine in 2002.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 15, 2025
It was okay.
I picked it up because Taylor Swift quotes his phrase "where the spirit meets the bone" in Evermore, although I'm thinking she might have gotten it from Miller William's daughter who I think was a notable singer that used her father's phrase as the title for one of her songs.
The inauguration poem and the poem 'compassionate' with the line TS used were the best ones. They were pretty good! Both would be worth revisiting now and then. I really like straightforward poetry when it still has some real soul to it and a pretty turn of phrase here or there. The first poem in the collection was also good too. There were definitely a few other nice lines among the bunch.
Overall through, the style of this collection is mostly very straightforward, even for prose poetry.
Some of the themes deal with Christianity in a way that is sort of about the constraints of the religion, which I don't believe in to begin with, so there wasn't much there for me. Some of the poems were also inexplicably shallow, like making fun of someone's personal ad in the newspaper even though the ad was actually quite witty?? (ex lines from ad: 45 year old male who could pass for 60, sober now and then ) like why was Miller taking it at face value and also so seriously? There's another poem where he laments that poets are so quickly forgotten by history, and writes that it's from a place 'nobler than greed' that he wishes poet's works were remembered for thousands of years. But to be honest there is truly nothing in the rest of the poem to actually suggest that anything deeper than greed is actually motivating these thoughts ?
A notable lowlight was the poem called The Light in the Eyes and was simply two lines:
"Who knows
where it goes?"
I picked it up because Taylor Swift quotes his phrase "where the spirit meets the bone" in Evermore, although I'm thinking she might have gotten it from Miller William's daughter who I think was a notable singer that used her father's phrase as the title for one of her songs.
The inauguration poem and the poem 'compassionate' with the line TS used were the best ones. They were pretty good! Both would be worth revisiting now and then. I really like straightforward poetry when it still has some real soul to it and a pretty turn of phrase here or there. The first poem in the collection was also good too. There were definitely a few other nice lines among the bunch.
Overall through, the style of this collection is mostly very straightforward, even for prose poetry.
Some of the themes deal with Christianity in a way that is sort of about the constraints of the religion, which I don't believe in to begin with, so there wasn't much there for me. Some of the poems were also inexplicably shallow, like making fun of someone's personal ad in the newspaper even though the ad was actually quite witty?? (ex lines from ad: 45 year old male who could pass for 60, sober now and then ) like why was Miller taking it at face value and also so seriously? There's another poem where he laments that poets are so quickly forgotten by history, and writes that it's from a place 'nobler than greed' that he wishes poet's works were remembered for thousands of years. But to be honest there is truly nothing in the rest of the poem to actually suggest that anything deeper than greed is actually motivating these thoughts ?
A notable lowlight was the poem called The Light in the Eyes and was simply two lines:
"Who knows
where it goes?"
June 18, 2014
I read this because I had to read an Arkansas author for the summer reading program at my library, and this was the shortest book I could find! I thoroughly enjoyed a few of the poems, disagreed with some of them, and didn't understand others. It only took me about 45 minutes to read the whole book though, so it wasn't really a waste of time.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews