so much depends
upon
a red wheel
barrow
glazed with rain
water
beside the white
chickens.
The Red Wheelbarrow
Analysis, meaning and summary of William Carlos Williams's poem The Red Wheelbarrow
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I just find this poem beautiful! So clear and simple. Can’t you just SEE those sharp colours. Feel the textures, the glaze of the rainwater, the cold shiny surface of the wheelbarrow.More beautiful than the image it conveys is just the stringing together of those separate words. At each new line, the picture acquires more focus. What I love is the way the poet managed to conjure up the picture so progressively, serenely, like drops of water adding up and making up a small universe
a wheelbarrow is ussually kep in the barn or shed, especially if it is going to rain rain, since it will rust. Therefore, it could be said that the whte chickens symbolize a utopian sociaty, where everyone is innocent and clean, where as the red wheelbarrow symbolizes the contrast between beauty and violence; red representing blood and war. Put all this together and you could say the poem is stating that war plays a major part in creating a perfect life. In other words, tou can’t have beauty and perfection without sacrifices; which is why so much of our world depends on a red wheelbarrow.
i wrote ths poem to show that people depend on stuff even if you might think it is trash. I wrote it in to minutes people!!
I fail to see how this poem is “dumb” and how the people who like it have their “heads in the toilet”. Some seem to think that every poem MUST have some deeper meaning and that they MUST move your soul in some way. A poem is a poem. It means something different to everyone that reads it. Although this poem confuses you that doesn’t mean that you have the right to throw it out and insult the people that do like it.
Maybe Mr. Williams wasn’t trying to change your life with this poem. Perhaps he was just trying to paint a picture in your mind, thereby showing you the power words can have.
Im not tryin to insult anyone, but please think before you jot somthing down for everyone else to see. I kind of feel embarrased for you. Thanks.
this poem has no deeper meaning is not discriptive and is not a wonderful peice of the work that speaks to the soul. he threw a couple words on a page then rearranged them so they made very little sense. it was dumb and i hated it. all you people that liked are dumb. get your head out od the freaking toilet.
the poem indirrectly shows amercian pride the RED wheelbarrow the WHITE chickens and the BLUE water.
A poem should not mean, but be”, as somebody somewhere once said. I’m
not entirely sure that the quote says quite what it means, or means
quite what it says – or says what i want it to mean, words being
notoriously treacherous things – but i do think it is something worth
thinking about.
for me, a poem’s meaning/being/poetry/whatever – like a song’s – comes
through as much in its shape and sounds as in the dictionary
definitions and historical references of the words used. like pullman
complaining that english class with its dogma of similes and metaphors
and iambic pentameter teaches us to decode rather than appreciate
poetry (consequently removing the actual *poetry* from the experience
– besides which, what is the point in trying to decode a poem’s
meaning when the poem IS the meaning?) i would press for a more
intuitive relationship to this poem – or any other good poem, for that
matter.
i feel that the person who complained that this is not poetry because
it does not communicate is missing the point somewhat: what they must
mean is that it does seem to offer moral instruction, personal
feeling, coherent narrative or philosophical argument (i would argue
that it offers all of these things, but i’m aware this post is
becoming lengthy).
there is a point at which one stops thinking of poems as good or bad –
either they are poetry, or they are not. this is poetry. see what new
roads it can lead you to; see what new thoughts it can ignite – and,
if you like, explore them. talk about them.
or, if you prefer, just look at the words and hear the sounds, as i do.
So much depends on the dusty bunny
A white bunny
lay face down
on the unmade bed
with an orange tag
stricking out of its buttocks
There! my poem is even longer than his and mine is better! and don’t try to analyze it…the white bunny is just white, I’m not racist! f*cking idiots
By the way, if you guys liked the red wheel barrow, you GOTTA read “This is Just to Say”….(its about Plums)
Yes, James, and you are so perfect in how you write. I didn’t realize “u” was a word. And, last I checked, “whos” is supposed to have an apostrophe.
I cannot believe that some people do not get the beauty out of this poem. The most intriguing thing about Williams is that he is able to write photographic poetry. By that I mean that his technique of imagery is so vivid that in almost all of his poems, the reader is able to see and visualize the object that is being written about in its entirety, almost as if standing right in front of it. This poem may not have a deeper meaning but I love the use of imagery that Williams creates throughout all of his poems.
I think that this very simple poem is very beautiful with lots of imagery. But I thought this poem was written after the death of the author’s son, a reflection of sorts.
hi, just wanted to say to Mike Vacha, obviously u are very ignorant for saying what u said about the red wheelbarrow, second, stupidist is NOT a word, and second, its actually *the most stupid*, so…correct me if im wrong, whos the stupid one? if u can’t get write correct grammar, maybe you shouldnt be criticizing anything now huh?
To me, this poem is simply about the unexpected beauty that can sometimes be found in the simplest and most inconsequential things. Sometimes something that is absolutely ordinary can be stunningly beautiful. If you’re lucky, you stumble on something like that once in a while and hopefully have the presence of mind to savor the experience, if only for a fleeting moment. To me, this poem is about such a moment. The imagery is very simple and understated, but, at the same time, extremely vivid. When I read this poem, I can see that rainwashed wheelbarrow as clearly as if it was sitting in front of me, and I can hear the chickens clucking as they mill about pecking at the soil in search of bugs and worms. I am there, savoring that moment along with Williams, and I am grateful that he preserved it for us with these sixteen powerful words.
I have to agree with an earlier comment that this poem is about “a red wheelbarrow after a rain with chickens around it!” Sometimes a poem is just a poem. Williams wrote poetic photographs–lovely, concrete, simple. Just enjoy.
This is the single stupidist piece of lierature I have read in my entire life. There is no meaning to read into because it is only 16 words. You cannot successfully put a deeper meaning in 16 words. Everyone should foget this poem even exists.
this poem is not meant to have a meaning, WCW tired of imagism just wrote this to fool everyone, stop trying to figure everything out read things for what they are,, somethings are not meant to have a meaning at all.
I believe that he made this poem for us to decide what we think. There is no real reason.
What is the question this poem is asking?
I understand the meaning I think But there is a question underlining this poem. What is the question?
what we do that the gods cant do is see the world from only our eyes. is love one baby more than another. is be fearful of a stranger. is not know what will happen, or what the real story is about. If god’s gift to us is life, maybe our gift back is the world through our eyes.
WCW gives back a moment when he was there, in a yard where the rain cleaned sky reflects from a puddle in a red wheelbarrow and white hens with mud on the base of their leg feathers, walk in circles in their peculiar jerky way.
we get so busy doing and going that we forget the astonishing gift of BEING. Local abundance does not negate a miracle.
William Carlos Williams was a rural family doctor in Pennsylvania. His poems reflect his profession. This poem is based on an event in his life. He was called to a farmer’s house, because the family’s five year old daughter was sick. She bit the tongue depressor when he put it in her mouth. He and the parents fight to get the cotton swab to her throat. She has bad strep throat. He tells the parents it’s in God’s hands now. “So much depends” means so much hangs. the red wheelbarrow is the girl with the fever. “glazed with rain water” is the prespiration/sweat from the girl. The white chickens are angels watching over her. It can also be looked at as the water from baptism and the chickens being gaurdian angels.