Yay I'm the first comment! This is really an honor! I would like to thank the academy, my photography teacher who isn't paying attention to what I do in class, and all of those students who are going to wait until Tuesday night!
Back to the point, the first two lines set the scene for the rest of the poem. The poet starts with the duty, not necessarily in a happy tone but a more thoughtful tone. There is now mention of a person or character other than the red wheelbarrow, which is a seemingly simple and ordinary object.
The next two lines describe the focal point of the poem, the red wheelbarrow.The single syllable words in the third lines create an awkward pause between "wheel" and "barrow", eccentuating the subject of the poem.
The fifth and sixth lines are a description of said wheelbarrow. Single syllables again break up these lines creating emphasis on the word water.
The final lines leave the reader with a picture of the wheelbarrow.
This poem is minimalistic and short, yet paints a beautiful simple picture for the reader.
I agree that the first two lines set the scene for the rest of the pome. I also believe that the structure of the pome has a great influence on the meaning. The structure of the pome makes the reader really think about the reaming of reach line and what they could symbolize.
I remember writing something on this poem last year for English, but I completely forget what it was. Anyway, the first new thing I noticed was that the importance of said wheelbarrow is never explained. However, I kind of like this because it originally forced me to think of why this might be the case, which, having not been on a farm frequently, is something I never would have thought about. Second, seeing as how it's covered in rainwater, it was clearly left outside during the rain (duh), suggesting that its owner doesn't recognize its importance. Third, if it were beside the chickens while being left outside, that means that the chickens were left outside in the rain as well, which is weird. After all, I believe the hen house was created for exactly that reason. Lastly, apart from being located on a farm, the wheelbarrow doesn't have anything to do with chickens. It can't be used to transport eggs because they'll break, and it's doubtful that it'd be used to transport live chickens during the author's life. Therefore, even if it was used to transport chicken feed, its handler clearly didn't see enough value in it to put it where it might be needed next.
I don't know why but i really like this poem. It is very easy to visualize this old red wheelbarrow out in the ryan on a stereotypical american farm. I think the author played this well because most americans can picture this easily, and it strikes close to home. The lack of punctuation also adds to the natural state of the poem, and Mr. Williams uses the syllable breaks to effectively control the tempo of the poem.
Upon further research of the author, I can also conclude that he wrote the poem during the peak of the Great Depression. That wheelbarrow could be symbolic of the hope he carried. All someone has to do is have the strength to use it, despite its poor condition. This ties in well with the "so much depends on" line. Everything depends on hope and he really hits home with the farmers and laborers of this time. Oh and "ryan" in my first post was supposed to be rain.
I like the idea of how the wheelbarrow could be hope! I also looked into the author and no where did it mention that he lived on a farm, and never in his life had anything to do with a farm! Even without living on a farm he could still be affected by food from farms (or lack of it) making many families dependent on a red wheelbarrow.
This poem really paints a picture in your head of the red wheel barrow and shows that the red wheel barrow is very important to the author for some unknown reason. This poem is interesting because it is hard to decipher the tone/mood of the author (doesn't seem mad sad or glad) This poem seems to be the author describing a pretty farm.
The red wheelbarrow is significant for the poet however its significance isn't revealed. I found the poem's format interesting; the first line of each stanza has 3 words and the second line has only one word. The first two lines set the tone while the second stanza creates a image of an wheelbarrow in the reader's mind. "glazed with rain water beside the white chickens," the rest of the poem relates to farming and nature, some what relating to the red wheelbarrow, however i think the red wheelbarrow is an illusion to something else in the poets life.
I think that the poem's format is what's giving it its meaning and telling us what to do.. When he says A red wheel Barrow It's like him telling us to look more closely, to actually think about the wheelbarrow. The word "glazed" evokes an image that reflects on the wheelbarrow (maybe making it look cleaner? Fresher?) I didn't really get the last part but I think he used "white" to clean up the "red" that was earlier in the poem.
From what I've researched this author wrote this in 20s. That means the poem was written around the great depression. Farm life was still relevant back then. The time has a lot to do with the poem as nobody, farmers especially, couldn't afford much. That's why the red wheelbarrow is so important. They need it for money, food, and survival.
I found the form of the poem to be quite interesting because it is all one sentence broken up into four stanzas, line one containing three words, line two only one. The only punctuation is the period at the end, and while the poem could have been written as just one line, it was broken up stylistically. The enjambment forces the reader to slow down and pay close attention to each word individually. The tone of the poem is very placid, reinforced by the more neutral/positive connotations of the word glazed, and the white chickens. The poem brings forth importance in an very simple object: a wheel barrow.
The title has no real purpose other than to enforce the fact that the red wheelbarrow is of importance in the poem. The way that its written causes you to focus on each individual stanza as if each has some meaning to it. The first stanza points out how important the wheel barrow is while the second speaks of the object of importance. The third stanza has to do with rain covering the wheelbarrow. Rain is usually a symbol of depression so it could be that the red wheelbarrow has "failed" in doing what it needs to do or that its of no use anymore because something bad has happened to the user. Then the forth stanza point out where the wheelbarrow is located. Though honestly before I go on, I would like to say that I don't really get the importance of the poem other than the fact that its an important red wheelbarrow sitting in the rain next to the white chickens.
This one simple sentence is full of imagery. The first two lines set the tone for the poem and tell us the importance of wheelbarrows. The references of the two colors: red and white are kind of opposites of each other. The color red makes the poem brighten up and white makes it seem dull. In each stanza, you picture the wheelbarrow differently every time.
This poem uses great diction and imagery to portray the image of a shiny red wheelbarrow on a farm doing a lot of work. This wheelbarrow is very important to this man. He is probably a farmer or worker. I also noticed that the number four seems very significant. For example, there are four stanzas ad four words within these stanzas. I am not quite sure why four is so significant, but I can tell it was a meaning.
I really enjoy this poem. It creates a visual image of what the poet is describing. The poem "The Red Wheelbarrow" is in a form of a Haiku. The author uses imagery to create a clear picture in the reader's mind. It is portraying a clear image with the wheelbarrow as its focus. Diction is also used, drawing the picture clearer of what is being described. In the first four lines, the poet is telling the reader in polite manner of what is important in the image; The words serve the wheelbarrow in the reader's imagination. The rest of the poem function to establish a much clearer vision of the original subject.
This is an interesting poem because it just simply tells you the importance of the red wheelbarrow. I think that wheelbarrows are often used on farms (hence the chickens) and if the wheelbarrow is covered in rain and its next to the chickens I guess they would be covered in rain also? That's kind of sad, wouldn't that be bad for them? If "so much depends upon a red wheelbarrow" then why would it be in the rain? When I first read this, I couldn't think of anything deeper than it stating the importance of the wheelbarrow. But then I read it again and it made a little bit more sense but I'm still not sure if I got the complete meaning.
I think think the reason that the stanzas are separated in the way that they are is because it's supposed to make the reader feel the heavy breaths of pushing a wheelbarrow.
The poem emphasizes the importance of the red wheelbarrow, yet for it to be "glazed with rain" it would have had to been left out. I would think that something of so much importance to someone would be put away when it starts to rain.
The title of the poem already shows the importance of the red wheel barrow, but the first verse emphasizes the importances even more. I guess the glazed rain water is to help with a visual effect of the barrow. The only thing I am unsure of is about last verse. I do not understand about the white chicken.
I think this poem is showing that something simple and wouldn't be regarded as very important, like a wheelbarrow, is actually very important and needed. It also shows that even the simplest things in life can mean a lot to some people. This poem also has a lot of imagery in it. Iis very easy to imagine the wheelbarrow on a farm with the chickens surrounding it after it was left out in the rain.
They say that the best authors write what they know, and I think this is a prime example of how true that is. Images are communicated best when the author has seen it him/herself. This poem, for example, is not very detailed, but it supplies what must have been the most memorable aspects of the scene he seems to be recalling. For example, saying "red" instead of "a rusty dappled maroon" or something equally complicated creates a very clear and simple image, and doesn't limit the reader's imagination by including exhaustively detailed words that may mean different things to different people. The fact that the author communicates this scene so well with so few words shows to me that he's seen it himself. I think the poem just means exactly what it says. It's a humbling thought that something as plain as a wheelbarrow can have real value and importance. If there's any deeper meaning, I'm unable to see it.
This poem emphasizing the importance of the red wheelbarrow. Obliviously it is used for many jobs and assists workers for hauling around heavy loads. It seems as if it is placed on a farm because of the chickens that were used. Since "so much depends on the red wheelbarrow" why would it be left out in the rain? This leads to rust and decaying paint and metal. The poem has great visualization and I can really picture how the wheelbarrow is standing with water droplets falling off as if it had just rained. It creates a mellow but grey mood to the reader. The stanza is also important. The first line of each stanza is 3 then 1.
I think that the author wanted the reader to interpret this poem to their own problems and difficulties in life. The red wheelbarrow is being pushed along. I do not understand what the white chickens are but if I were to guess i would say that they symbolize a pure life for the one pushing the wheelbarrow.
This poem is written with very plain and straightforward diction. The topic of the poem seems to be no different, but I think its simplicity helps shape the meaning of the work. The poem suggests that the wheelbarrow is taken for granted. In line three, the wheelbarrow is addressed as "a wheelbarrow" and not "the wheelbarrow," which further indicates the equipment's unrecognized status. Also, the colors "white" and "red" are some of the only descriptive words used in the poem. Writers often use colors as an excuse to use flowery and vivid diction, but Williams didn't. I think both of these points are noteworthy, especially while analyzing the tone of the poem.
The title is very straightforward describing what is to come: a description of a scene with a red wheel barrow. The author expertly uses imagery and sensory words to paint a picture. As a reader, you can see the wheel barrow glistening in the sun, covered in water droplets on a farm with chickens jumping around. The author uses very few words, but the reader still gets a very good mental image in their head of this scene of as red wheelbarrow. I know that the structure of thee poem means something, however I'm not quite sure what it is though. I think the author used the poetic device of imagery very well.
I think the diction of this poem is very interesting. The word "depends" implies that the wheelbarrow is necessary and most likely appreciated. The fact that the wheelbarrow was "glazed" with rain implied that it isn't a dull piece of equipment, but a shiny, useful tool. The part of this poem that threw me off a but was the part about the white chickens. White is a color associated with joy and purity. Therefore, I think this adds to the appreciative tone of the poem.
The way the colors red and white, as described in the poem contrast each other is very interesting. Rain tends to be associated with blue. The red wheelbarrow is a bit like a counterpart to the white chickens and the rain. The way the words are spaced out gives the poem a very relaxed, calm, peaceful sound. It also puts a lot of emphasis on the individual words, so each word carries a lot of associations. Wheelbarrows are associated with work, and chickens are associated with food. The work that the wheelbarrow might represent is very important to the speaker, who seems to be appreciating both the wheelbarrow (work, which would've been very important to the speaker during the Depression as Josh mentioned) and the chickens beside the wheelbarrow, which probably are there as a result of the work that goes with the wheelbarrow.
This poem is based around the imagery of a farm. With selective adjectives it gives the reader a clear picture of the red wheelbarrow and white chickens. Also, I don't believe that the wheelbarrow glazed in rain is negative; I believe that to a farmer, rain is very important to help his plants grow, so the wheelbarrow glazed in rain is a positive detail in this poem.
The poem uses an interesting choice of words and form. Every stanza has four words, three words on top and one word on the bottom. The top line could be emphasizing the importance of the nouns underneath. The mood of the poem could be debated when we factor in how it was written during the great depression. Farms are fun for the most part. The author says, "glazed with rain." This is not a negative line because "glazed" does not soon like a negative word. It sets a innocence or clean tone. Water also represents rebirth or something changes in literature. The rain could symbolize that something good is happening in the depression.
I like this poem because it takes us back to the calmness and simplicity of the olden days. You would not often hear someone now speculating on how important a wheelbarrow is. This poem is also very open ended and can have deeper meanings for the symbols even though the readers do not know what those are.
This poem is straight forward and leaves no cloudyness. The imagery in this poem is very strong; you can clearly see the red wheelbarrow covered with water with a chicken sitting beside it. The author uses descriptive diction like the word glazed that helps to paint the picture.
This poem is very interesting. Because it just rained, I am assuming that the red wheelbarrow is somewhat filled with clean rainwater. This rainwater can possibly be useful because there might have been a lack of water on the farm, which is bad because farms need water in order to function properly. Also, the author describes the wheelbarrow as very important. Because he only describes the wheelbarrow as red, it implies that the wheelbarrow is probably in a good condition. Why would the farmer leave out a wheelbarrow (in good condition) in the rain when it increases probability of rust? Maybe what he was willing to risk a good tool to obtain something more important: water. I'm probably totally wrong, but it was worth a shot. The simplicity of this poem is weird, and unnerving.
To me, the poem conveys the beauty of simplicity. This poem is so simple, but at the same time, means a whole lot. When I think of wheel barrows, I think of something small and simple, but also something that carries heavy loads. I think the speaker is communicating to us that even something simple and something you don't even think twice about, can support many heavy things even when you don't believe in it or remember it is there; it'll always be there waiting to help you. When I read "glazed" i kind of think of coated and maybe even dried rain, almost as if the owner of the wheel barrow simply just puts it to the side, by the chickens, and lets it get coated in rain water for such a long time, but when he needs it, he depends on it and that can weigh down the barrow as well as the contents inside of it.
The author of the poem uses simple diction that creates a strong image in the reader's mind. The poem's structure emphasizes the importance the words and the diction allows the reader to clearly see the image of the red wheelbarrow covered in rainwater.
First of all, I love this poem so much, it was the first poem I ever studied in middle school. It's a brilliant poem because it's impossible to forget. the way that the stanzas are formatted emphasizes the imagery of the words and it paints such a clear picture. The use of color to contrast the main subject of the poem from the other objects (the chickens) is a clever way to make each object seem brighter in the image.
In this poem, I think the redness of the wheelbarrow would represent the sunburns that farmers got from working in the sun all day. When the author says, "besides the white chickens" I think the chickens are people who don't have to work and as a result are very fair skinned. I also think that this poem is meant to glorify a simple work tool. The poem states that the wheelbarrow is important but when it collects rain water, it would be even more important. Water is pretty difficult to come by on a farm so a wheelbarrow of water will be especially helpful.
I find this poem very strange. Who depends on the red wheel barrow? When i think of the color red, I don't see the object as a good thing. In fact, I think of something dark. What is the importance of the rain? Williams uses specific diction when explaining how the wheel barrow is glazed with rain water. That caught my eye. -Julie Durr
the spacing of the poem makes the reader slow down. the poem gives me imagery of a raining farm with the colors red and white specefically. the speaker appears to be an old and experienced farmer or worker since he knows a lot about wheelbarrows and what tpe of work you need for them.
This poem is serenely mysterious. It shows that there is something very important in the red wheel barrow but it doesn't describe it very much. It is so simple but it's contains a lot of imagery due to the focal diction. It uses the word "glaze" which usually has positive connotation, to describe the water. It's spacing emphasizes breaks between compound words to show the importance of that stanza. There is a pattern of four words per stanza and each stanza has five syllables. This gives the poem an impression of a haiku.
This poem seems very slow by the way it is formatted. The stanzas each contain four words and the last word of each stanza forms a second line. The color I picture most is blue because of the rain, but the colors red and white are only said to describe the barrow and the chickens. The wheel barrow seems to be important, but I want to know why and who depends on it.
The tone is longing. Its desperately hopeful because the narrator puts so much emphasis on certain words like wheelbarrow. The exclusion of the lines make the poem flow on a slower rithym.
The author here uses very simple diction to create a very simple image of a very simple item. Simply put, it's a snap at the beauty and importance in simple things. It's a wheelbarrow, nothing fancy or expensive or extraordinary. However like the author says, it is something that much depends on. It's something that'll be there when you need it, right where you left it. It'll take the punishment of the weather, and it'll life the weight of whatever you need it to. This poem reminds me of a broken love in a way, how this person can just throw this wheelbarrow to the elements without a care, and come back to it later on knowing it'll be there to support them. This poem is so simple, yet so complex and meaningful. Just like the wheelbarrow.
This poem is just so peaceful. The red wheel barrel and the white chickens constrast eachother beautiful and paint such a calm picture. White is a color of peace and relaxation, which is up against red, a strong and vibrant color. The way the poem is written with the three words on top hand one owrd on the bootom is an iteresting choice of diction. The way the poem is written makes it seem as though everything depends on the wheel barrel and without it, the rest of the scene would be bleak and empty. The word "glaze" also struck me because when you use the word glaze with a word like rain, it makes it seem as thugh the rain is painted onto the wheel barrel. This is such a short, simple poem, but it has a such a beautiful meaning: everytihng relys on the wheel barrel.
Not quite sure what the meaning of this poem is (actually, forget I said that, poems in general make no strong effort to be explained, entertaining, or helpful in life for that matter; after reading them, you just feel that the world is most definitely run by The Man. If you don't know who The Man is, figure it the heck out and watch "The School of Rock" or I will personally find your household, go into you're televised area of the house, put in the DVD, and pop some popcorn in your microwave, that way you will enjoy watching the movie [with me there of course] and will most surely remember who The Man is for the rest of your freaking life!), but if I had to start somewhere, I would guess that the poem is complete buhaki (if you don't know what "buhaki" is, I will attempt to assassinate one of your loved ones every night, until you watch FRIENDS enough to understand the reference!) after the line "so much depends upon a red wheel barrow." I think this literature is trying to connect with history in saying and suggesting that the invention of the wheel (mid-4th millennium BC, Mesopotamian, Mohenjodaroed, Maykop culturally invented agricultural tool to help things roll at a bit faster pace) is the one thing the world as a whole needs to show our appreciation for, as it has proven time and time again to lead to new, more modern inventions and ultimately be the figurative "rock" in our society. What I'm really trying to get at here is to say to my fellow Wildcats, we should backtrack our history and live like our ancestorial families did, as technologyless, hard-working, omish farmers that used the Pony Expression back in it's hayday, and tied hand-written-with-a quilt-on-parchment-paper-to-be-sent-off-messages to birds and owls and connected with their neighbors over their crops freshly grown, on a Sunday afternoon when the spouses with two "x" chromezones would wear hand woven, pretty flower dresses that smelt like Spring-time meadows!!
This poem is all about imagery. The tone of this poem could be called "Peacefully Ambiguous" as it leaves the reader with this simple image of a wheelbarrow sitting next to a chicken, but also a feeling of confusion: Why does so much depend on this one moment in time? Perhaps this poem isn't talking about a farm at all. Perhaps the "farm" is the world we are in. The red wheelbarrow is evil, a vehicle we may hop into if we choose to go down that path. We, the white chickens, are still pure and untouched. Perhaps the rain water is the attempt of nature to put down evil, try or fail.
I think the narrator is trying to emphasize the importance of the red wheelbarrow. I got that from the title and how he says "so much depends upon a red wheelbarrow". The author also says that the red wheelbarrow is glazed with rainwater which probably means that it has been through a lot?
Yay I'm the first comment! This is really an honor! I would like to thank the academy, my photography teacher who isn't paying attention to what I do in class, and all of those students who are going to wait until Tuesday night!
ReplyDeleteBack to the point, the first two lines set the scene for the rest of the poem. The poet starts with the duty, not necessarily in a happy tone but a more thoughtful tone. There is now mention of a person or character other than the red wheelbarrow, which is a seemingly simple and ordinary object.
The next two lines describe the focal point of the poem, the red wheelbarrow.The single syllable words in the third lines create an awkward pause between "wheel" and "barrow", eccentuating the subject of the poem.
The fifth and sixth lines are a description of said wheelbarrow. Single syllables again break up these lines creating emphasis on the word water.
The final lines leave the reader with a picture of the wheelbarrow.
This poem is minimalistic and short, yet paints a beautiful simple picture for the reader.
I agree that the first two lines set the scene for the rest of the pome. I also believe that the structure of the pome has a great influence on the meaning. The structure of the pome makes the reader really think about the reaming of reach line and what they could symbolize.
DeleteI remember writing something on this poem last year for English, but I completely forget what it was. Anyway, the first new thing I noticed was that the importance of said wheelbarrow is never explained. However, I kind of like this because it originally forced me to think of why this might be the case, which, having not been on a farm frequently, is something I never would have thought about. Second, seeing as how it's covered in rainwater, it was clearly left outside during the rain (duh), suggesting that its owner doesn't recognize its importance. Third, if it were beside the chickens while being left outside, that means that the chickens were left outside in the rain as well, which is weird. After all, I believe the hen house was created for exactly that reason. Lastly, apart from being located on a farm, the wheelbarrow doesn't have anything to do with chickens. It can't be used to transport eggs because they'll break, and it's doubtful that it'd be used to transport live chickens during the author's life. Therefore, even if it was used to transport chicken feed, its handler clearly didn't see enough value in it to put it where it might be needed next.
ReplyDeleteI don't know why but i really like this poem. It is very easy to visualize this old red wheelbarrow out in the ryan on a stereotypical american farm. I think the author played this well because most americans can picture this easily, and it strikes close to home. The lack of punctuation also adds to the natural state of the poem, and Mr. Williams uses the syllable breaks to effectively control the tempo of the poem.
ReplyDeleteUpon further research of the author, I can also conclude that he wrote the poem during the peak of the Great Depression. That wheelbarrow could be symbolic of the hope he carried. All someone has to do is have the strength to use it, despite its poor condition. This ties in well with the "so much depends on" line. Everything depends on hope and he really hits home with the farmers and laborers of this time. Oh and "ryan" in my first post was supposed to be rain.
DeleteI like the idea of how the wheelbarrow could be hope! I also looked into the author and no where did it mention that he lived on a farm, and never in his life had anything to do with a farm! Even without living on a farm he could still be affected by food from farms (or lack of it) making many families dependent on a red wheelbarrow.
DeleteThis poem really paints a picture in your head of the red wheel barrow and shows that the red wheel barrow is very important to the author for some unknown reason. This poem is interesting because it is hard to decipher the tone/mood of the author (doesn't seem mad sad or glad) This poem seems to be the author describing a pretty farm.
ReplyDeleteThe red wheelbarrow is significant for the poet however its significance isn't revealed. I found the poem's format interesting; the first line of each stanza has 3 words and the second line has only one word. The first two lines set the tone while the second stanza creates a image of an wheelbarrow in the reader's mind. "glazed with rain
ReplyDeletewater beside the white chickens," the rest of the poem relates to farming and nature, some what relating to the red wheelbarrow, however i think the red wheelbarrow is an illusion to something else in the poets life.
I think that the poem's format is what's giving it its meaning and telling us what to do.. When he says
DeleteA red wheel
Barrow
It's like him telling us to look more closely, to actually think about the wheelbarrow. The word "glazed" evokes an image that reflects on the wheelbarrow (maybe making it look cleaner? Fresher?)
I didn't really get the last part but I think he used "white" to clean up the "red" that was earlier in the poem.
From what I've researched this author wrote this in 20s. That means the poem was written around the great depression. Farm life was still relevant back then. The time has a lot to do with the poem as nobody, farmers especially, couldn't afford much. That's why the red wheelbarrow is so important. They need it for money, food, and survival.
ReplyDeleteI found the form of the poem to be quite interesting because it is all one sentence broken up into four stanzas, line one containing three words, line two only one. The only punctuation is the period at the end, and while the poem could have been written as just one line, it was broken up stylistically. The enjambment forces the reader to slow down and pay close attention to each word individually. The tone of the poem is very placid, reinforced by the more neutral/positive connotations of the word glazed, and the white chickens. The poem brings forth importance in an very simple object: a wheel barrow.
ReplyDeleteThe title has no real purpose other than to enforce the fact that the red wheelbarrow is of importance in the poem. The way that its written causes you to focus on each individual stanza as if each has some meaning to it. The first stanza points out how important the wheel barrow is while the second speaks of the object of importance. The third stanza has to do with rain covering the wheelbarrow. Rain is usually a symbol of depression so it could be that the red wheelbarrow has "failed" in doing what it needs to do or that its of no use anymore because something bad has happened to the user. Then the forth stanza point out where the wheelbarrow is located. Though honestly before I go on, I would like to say that I don't really get the importance of the poem other than the fact that its an important red wheelbarrow sitting in the rain next to the white chickens.
ReplyDeleteThis one simple sentence is full of imagery. The first two lines set the tone for the poem and tell us the importance of wheelbarrows. The references of the two colors: red and white are kind of opposites of each other. The color red makes the poem brighten up and white makes it seem dull. In each stanza, you picture the wheelbarrow differently every time.
ReplyDeleteThis poem uses great diction and imagery to portray the image of a shiny red wheelbarrow on a farm doing a lot of work. This wheelbarrow is very important to this man. He is probably a farmer or worker. I also noticed that the number four seems very significant. For example, there are four stanzas ad four words within these stanzas. I am not quite sure why four is so significant, but I can tell it was a meaning.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy this poem. It creates a visual image of what the poet is describing. The poem "The Red Wheelbarrow" is in a form of a Haiku. The author uses imagery to create a clear picture in the reader's mind. It is portraying a clear image with the wheelbarrow as its focus. Diction is also used, drawing the picture clearer of what is being described. In the first four lines, the poet is telling the reader in polite manner of what is important in the image; The words serve the wheelbarrow in the reader's imagination. The rest of the poem function to establish a much clearer vision of the original subject.
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting poem because it just simply tells you the importance of the red wheelbarrow. I think that wheelbarrows are often used on farms (hence the chickens) and if the wheelbarrow is covered in rain and its next to the chickens I guess they would be covered in rain also? That's kind of sad, wouldn't that be bad for them? If "so much depends upon a red wheelbarrow" then why would it be in the rain? When I first read this, I couldn't think of anything deeper than it stating the importance of the wheelbarrow. But then I read it again and it made a little bit more sense but I'm still not sure if I got the complete meaning.
ReplyDeleteI think think the reason that the stanzas are separated in the way that they are is because it's supposed to make the reader feel the heavy breaths of pushing a wheelbarrow.
ReplyDeleteThe poem emphasizes the importance of the red wheelbarrow, yet for it to be "glazed with rain" it would have had to been left out. I would think that something of so much importance to someone would be put away when it starts to rain.
ReplyDeleteThe title of the poem already shows the importance of the red wheel barrow, but the first verse emphasizes the importances even more. I guess the glazed rain water is to help with a visual effect of the barrow. The only thing I am unsure of is about last verse. I do not understand about the white chicken.
ReplyDeleteI think this poem is showing that something simple and wouldn't be regarded as very important, like a wheelbarrow, is actually very important and needed. It also shows that even the simplest things in life can mean a lot to some people. This poem also has a lot of imagery in it. Iis very easy to imagine the wheelbarrow on a farm with the chickens surrounding it after it was left out in the rain.
ReplyDeleteThey say that the best authors write what they know, and I think this is a prime example of how true that is. Images are communicated best when the author has seen it him/herself. This poem, for example, is not very detailed, but it supplies what must have been the most memorable aspects of the scene he seems to be recalling. For example, saying "red" instead of "a rusty dappled maroon" or something equally complicated creates a very clear and simple image, and doesn't limit the reader's imagination by including exhaustively detailed words that may mean different things to different people. The fact that the author communicates this scene so well with so few words shows to me that he's seen it himself. I think the poem just means exactly what it says. It's a humbling thought that something as plain as a wheelbarrow can have real value and importance. If there's any deeper meaning, I'm unable to see it.
ReplyDeleteThis poem emphasizing the importance of the red wheelbarrow. Obliviously it is used for many jobs and assists workers for hauling around heavy loads. It seems as if it is placed on a farm because of the chickens that were used. Since "so much depends on the red wheelbarrow" why would it be left out in the rain? This leads to rust and decaying paint and metal. The poem has great visualization and I can really picture how the wheelbarrow is standing with water droplets falling off as if it had just rained. It creates a mellow but grey mood to the reader. The stanza is also important. The first line of each stanza is 3 then 1.
ReplyDeleteI think that the author wanted the reader to interpret this poem to their own problems and difficulties in life. The red wheelbarrow is being pushed along. I do not understand what the white chickens are but if I were to guess i would say that they symbolize a pure life for the one pushing the wheelbarrow.
ReplyDeleteThis poem is written with very plain and straightforward diction. The topic of the poem seems to be no different, but I think its simplicity helps shape the meaning of the work. The poem suggests that the wheelbarrow is taken for granted. In line three, the wheelbarrow is addressed as "a wheelbarrow" and not "the wheelbarrow," which further indicates the equipment's unrecognized status. Also, the colors "white" and "red" are some of the only descriptive words used in the poem. Writers often use colors as an excuse to use flowery and vivid diction, but Williams didn't. I think both of these points are noteworthy, especially while analyzing the tone of the poem.
ReplyDeleteThe title is very straightforward describing what is to come: a description of a scene with a red wheel barrow. The author expertly uses imagery and sensory words to paint a picture. As a reader, you can see the wheel barrow glistening in the sun, covered in water droplets on a farm with chickens jumping around. The author uses very few words, but the reader still gets a very good mental image in their head of this scene of as red wheelbarrow. I know that the structure of thee poem means something, however I'm not quite sure what it is though. I think the author used the poetic device of imagery very well.
ReplyDeleteI think the diction of this poem is very interesting. The word "depends" implies that the wheelbarrow is necessary and most likely appreciated. The fact that the wheelbarrow was "glazed" with rain implied that it isn't a dull piece of equipment, but a shiny, useful tool. The part of this poem that threw me off a but was the part about the white chickens. White is a color associated with joy and purity. Therefore, I think this adds to the appreciative tone of the poem.
ReplyDeleteThe way the colors red and white, as described in the poem contrast each other is very interesting. Rain tends to be associated with blue. The red wheelbarrow is a bit like a counterpart to the white chickens and the rain. The way the words are spaced out gives the poem a very relaxed, calm, peaceful sound. It also puts a lot of emphasis on the individual words, so each word carries a lot of associations. Wheelbarrows are associated with work, and chickens are associated with food. The work that the wheelbarrow might represent is very important to the speaker, who seems to be appreciating both the wheelbarrow (work, which would've been very important to the speaker during the Depression as Josh mentioned) and the chickens beside the wheelbarrow, which probably are there as a result of the work that goes with the wheelbarrow.
ReplyDeleteThis poem is based around the imagery of a farm. With selective adjectives it gives the reader a clear picture of the red wheelbarrow and white chickens. Also, I don't believe that the wheelbarrow glazed in rain is negative; I believe that to a farmer, rain is very important to help his plants grow, so the wheelbarrow glazed in rain is a positive detail in this poem.
ReplyDeleteThe poem uses an interesting choice of words and form. Every stanza has four words, three words on top and one word on the bottom. The top line could be emphasizing the importance of the nouns underneath. The mood of the poem could be debated when we factor in how it was written during the great depression. Farms are fun for the most part. The author says, "glazed with rain." This is not a negative line because "glazed" does not soon like a negative word. It sets a innocence or clean tone. Water also represents rebirth or something changes in literature. The rain could symbolize that something good is happening in the depression.
ReplyDeleteI like this poem because it takes us back to the calmness and simplicity of the olden days. You would not often hear someone now speculating on how important a wheelbarrow is. This poem is also very open ended and can have deeper meanings for the symbols even though the readers do not know what those are.
ReplyDeleteThis poem is straight forward and leaves no cloudyness. The imagery in this poem is very strong; you can clearly see the red wheelbarrow covered with water with a chicken sitting beside it. The author uses descriptive diction like the word glazed that helps to paint the picture.
ReplyDeleteThis poem is very interesting. Because it just rained, I am assuming that the red wheelbarrow is somewhat filled with clean rainwater. This rainwater can possibly be useful because there might have been a lack of water on the farm, which is bad because farms need water in order to function properly. Also, the author describes the wheelbarrow as very important. Because he only describes the wheelbarrow as red, it implies that the wheelbarrow is probably in a good condition. Why would the farmer leave out a wheelbarrow (in good condition) in the rain when it increases probability of rust? Maybe what he was willing to risk a good tool to obtain something more important: water. I'm probably totally wrong, but it was worth a shot. The simplicity of this poem is weird, and unnerving.
ReplyDeleteTo me, the poem conveys the beauty of simplicity. This poem is so simple, but at the same time, means a whole lot. When I think of wheel barrows, I think of something small and simple, but also something that carries heavy loads. I think the speaker is communicating to us that even something simple and something you don't even think twice about, can support many heavy things even when you don't believe in it or remember it is there; it'll always be there waiting to help you. When I read "glazed" i kind of think of coated and maybe even dried rain, almost as if the owner of the wheel barrow simply just puts it to the side, by the chickens, and lets it get coated in rain water for such a long time, but when he needs it, he depends on it and that can weigh down the barrow as well as the contents inside of it.
ReplyDeleteThe author of the poem uses simple diction that creates a strong image in the reader's mind. The poem's structure emphasizes the importance the words and the diction allows the reader to clearly see the image of the red wheelbarrow covered in rainwater.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I love this poem so much, it was the first poem I ever studied in middle school. It's a brilliant poem because it's impossible to forget. the way that the stanzas are formatted emphasizes the imagery of the words and it paints such a clear picture. The use of color to contrast the main subject of the poem from the other objects (the chickens) is a clever way to make each object seem brighter in the image.
ReplyDeleteIn this poem, I think the redness of the wheelbarrow would represent the sunburns that farmers got from working in the sun all day. When the author says, "besides the white chickens" I think the chickens are people who don't have to work and as a result are very fair skinned. I also think that this poem is meant to glorify a simple work tool. The poem states that the wheelbarrow is important but when it collects rain water, it would be even more important. Water is pretty difficult to come by on a farm so a wheelbarrow of water will be especially helpful.
ReplyDeleteI find this poem very strange. Who depends on the red wheel barrow? When i think of the color red, I don't see the object as a good thing. In fact, I think of something dark. What is the importance of the rain? Williams uses specific diction when explaining how the wheel barrow is glazed with rain water. That caught my eye.
ReplyDelete-Julie Durr
The seperated stanzas and dicton makes me feel like the speaker is struggling.
ReplyDeletethe spacing of the poem makes the reader slow down. the poem gives me imagery of a raining farm with the colors red and white specefically. the speaker appears to be an old and experienced farmer or worker since he knows a lot about wheelbarrows and what tpe of work you need for them.
ReplyDeleteThis poem is serenely mysterious. It shows that there is something very important in the red wheel barrow but it doesn't describe it very much. It is so simple but it's contains a lot of imagery due to the focal diction. It uses the word "glaze" which usually has positive connotation, to describe the water. It's spacing emphasizes breaks between compound words to show the importance of that stanza. There is a pattern of four words per stanza and each stanza has five syllables. This gives the poem an impression of a haiku.
ReplyDeleteThis poem seems very slow by the way it is formatted. The stanzas each contain four words and the last word of each stanza forms a second line. The color I picture most is blue because of the rain, but the colors red and white are only said to describe the barrow and the chickens. The wheel barrow seems to be important, but I want to know why and who depends on it.
ReplyDeleteThe tone is longing. Its desperately hopeful because the narrator puts so much emphasis on certain words like wheelbarrow. The exclusion of the lines make the poem flow on a slower rithym.
ReplyDeleteThe author here uses very simple diction to create a very simple image of a very simple item. Simply put, it's a snap at the beauty and importance in simple things. It's a wheelbarrow, nothing fancy or expensive or extraordinary. However like the author says, it is something that much depends on. It's something that'll be there when you need it, right where you left it. It'll take the punishment of the weather, and it'll life the weight of whatever you need it to. This poem reminds me of a broken love in a way, how this person can just throw this wheelbarrow to the elements without a care, and come back to it later on knowing it'll be there to support them. This poem is so simple, yet so complex and meaningful. Just like the wheelbarrow.
ReplyDeleteThis poem is just so peaceful. The red wheel barrel and the white chickens constrast eachother beautiful and paint such a calm picture. White is a color of peace and relaxation, which is up against red, a strong and vibrant color. The way the poem is written with the three words on top hand one owrd on the bootom is an iteresting choice of diction. The way the poem is written makes it seem as though everything depends on the wheel barrel and without it, the rest of the scene would be bleak and empty. The word "glaze" also struck me because when you use the word glaze with a word like rain, it makes it seem as thugh the rain is painted onto the wheel barrel. This is such a short, simple poem, but it has a such a beautiful meaning: everytihng relys on the wheel barrel.
ReplyDeleteNot quite sure what the meaning of this poem is (actually, forget I said that, poems in general make no strong effort to be explained, entertaining, or helpful in life for that matter; after reading them, you just feel that the world is most definitely run by The Man. If you don't know who The Man is, figure it the heck out and watch "The School of Rock" or I will personally find your household, go into you're televised area of the house, put in the DVD, and pop some popcorn in your microwave, that way you will enjoy watching the movie [with me there of course] and will most surely remember who The Man is for the rest of your freaking life!), but if I had to start somewhere, I would guess that the poem is complete buhaki (if you don't know what "buhaki" is, I will attempt to assassinate one of your loved ones every night, until you watch FRIENDS enough to understand the reference!) after the line "so much depends upon a red wheel barrow." I think this literature is trying to connect with history in saying and suggesting that the invention of the wheel (mid-4th millennium BC, Mesopotamian, Mohenjodaroed, Maykop culturally invented agricultural tool to help things roll at a bit faster pace) is the one thing the world as a whole needs to show our appreciation for, as it has proven time and time again to lead to new, more modern inventions and ultimately be the figurative "rock" in our society. What I'm really trying to get at here is to say to my fellow Wildcats, we should backtrack our history and live like our ancestorial families did, as technologyless, hard-working, omish farmers that used the Pony Expression back in it's hayday, and tied hand-written-with-a quilt-on-parchment-paper-to-be-sent-off-messages to birds and owls and connected with their neighbors over their crops freshly grown, on a Sunday afternoon when the spouses with two "x" chromezones would wear hand woven, pretty flower dresses that smelt like Spring-time meadows!!
ReplyDeleteThis poem is all about imagery. The tone of this poem could be called "Peacefully Ambiguous" as it leaves the reader with this simple image of a wheelbarrow sitting next to a chicken, but also a feeling of confusion: Why does so much depend on this one moment in time? Perhaps this poem isn't talking about a farm at all. Perhaps the "farm" is the world we are in. The red wheelbarrow is evil, a vehicle we may hop into if we choose to go down that path. We, the white chickens, are still pure and untouched. Perhaps the rain water is the attempt of nature to put down evil, try or fail.
ReplyDeleteI think the narrator is trying to emphasize the importance of the red wheelbarrow. I got that from the title and how he says "so much depends upon a red wheelbarrow". The author also says that the red wheelbarrow is glazed with rainwater which probably means that it has been through a lot?
ReplyDelete