William Carlos Williams "Sympathetic Portrait of a Child"

Nervously
she crushes her straw hat
about her eyes
and tilts her head
to deepen the shadow—
smiling excitedly! (lines 11-16, pg. 289)

The poem titled “Sympathetic Portrait of a Child” made me smile as I read through the lines. Williams describes a little girl, “who is barely ten years old”, by using great imagery tactics as he depicts her shyness and excitement (2, 288). The above quote painted a picture for me due to its very realistic image. When children are shy, due to a variety of different reasons, they tend to hide themselves behind objects, like the little girl’s straw hat, as they believe that as long as they cannot see other individuals; those individuals cannot see them as well. It protects them from whatever harm, insecurity, or uncomfortableness they may feel. In this poem, I believe the little girl is being shy and tries to playfully cover herself up, but only to secretly smile as she innocently covers her eyes. Perhaps the child saw a kind man in the speaker of them poem and therefore opened up to him by smiling and showing emotion. Although it was the emotion of shyness, the child silently expressed interest in the speaker.
Since Williams calls the little girl’s father a murderer, it leads me to believe that her father was not a man who gave much attention to the girl, nor did he care much. Therefore, her shyness towards another man could have built upon from this lack of affection and attention from her father. The little girl noticed that the speaker was looking at her and displayed some interest in her being. To a child who has gone unnoticed for years, this may spark this exact reaction of hiding behind objects due to the child’s unlearned emotion of obtaining affection from a man. Although the poem seems lively in nature at a quick glance due to its innocent portrayal of a child, it also shows the effects of a neglected girl who does not know how to react to fondness from another adult.
The last three lines in the poem, “Why has she chosen me/ for the knife/ that darts along her smile?” play a key role in the poem (24-26, 289). Some people are told to have a “killer smile”, which I believe is the description Williams is portraying in the last three lines. The little girl shatters the speaker’s wall he may have put up against himself when it comes to displaying affection for children. It seems like both, the little girl and the speaker, are going through some kind of turmoil inside of them by experiencing warmth and friendliness coming forth from them mutually.
However, it is important to note that I do not see this poem in a sexual matter which I understand others may. To me, this poem is innocent in its nature and it depicts issues of insecurity.