Contend in a sea which the land partly encloses
Shielding them from the too-heavy blows
Of an ungoverned ocean which when it chooses
Tortures the biggest hulls, the best man knows
To pit against its beatings, and sinks them pitilessly
Mothlike in mists, scintillant in the minute
As William Carlos William’s “The Yachts” is an allegory for social mobility, and particularly relates to the issues with social mobility in the 1920s, William’s use of “an ungoverned ocean” brings about the idea of a laissez-faire government. 
 
 During the 1920s, many large businesses prospered out of corrupt business dealings because there were no laws preventing such transactions. Corruption ran rampant as businesses strived to keep up and take advantage of the quickly developing and industrialising economy. 

The Yachts