Thursday, September 9, 2010

"The Red Wheelbarrow"

Huh? Help me out, guys. What's up with this poem?

21 comments:

  1. When I read this poem, I immediately see a clear image of the red wheelbarrow. The title provides that initial image. Williams then paints a picture of the wheelbarrow through words. He includes two contrasting colors, red and white. The red is "glazed with rainwater", giving it shine. Since there are so few words, each one is important. Williams chose each word with care and strategically placed them in the form of a poem. It is really just a sentence broken up into eight lines with three or fewer words. The end of each odd line is almost a cliff hanger. There is an unusual pause that makes you have to read the next line to fully understand. Depends is always followed by on or upon. Wheelbarrow and rainwater are really one word. White is an adjective that must have something to describe. The poem says, "so much depends on the wheelbarrow", and so much depends on the next word, especially since there are so few of them. A question I have when I read this is, what depends on the wheelbarrow? One idea is that they are very useful to farmers in order to transport things. Chickens are also relied on and very useful on a farm. When Williams uses rainwater with the verb glazed, it seems like a glaze of paint, but rain is also depended on at a farm. This poem provokes many questions because there is so little there to interpret. What is the significance of the wheelbarrow to the speaker? But like we said, poetry is a lot about your own interpretation so I assume the questions are for us to answer ourselves without concrete evidence.

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  2. I agree with pretty much everything Carolyn said. Although there is most likely a story behind the poem, I think that it is purposely left open for interpretation. One of the important aspects of the poem is the picture that it paints. A picture of a wet red wheelbarrow standing next to chickens quickly appeared in my mind after I read this poem. But to me, I could not really see what depends upon this wheelbarrow. Williams could just be emphasizing its importance to a farmer and relishing the simple things in life. The poem itself is simply a sentence with each word holding importance. What the poem is really about is not directly told to the reader, but I think this is what makes it poetry.

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  3. This poem is full of imagery and could be merely an imagist poem if it were not for the first stanza - "so much depends upon" - which adds a message to the imagery. This is the line that intrigues readers, causing them to read the poem over and over to find what it is that "so much depends upon." It is abstract. It is different than the rest of the stanzas. Williams’ words all have a purpose. Why is the wheelbarrow red, and why are the chickens white? I don't think the specific color is as important as the fact that they are details. The poem may be saying that "so much depends upon" details in life. The bigger picture of the scene depends on the small detail of the glistening wet wheelbarrow and the chickens beside it, a detail that is unfortunately lost if one were to quickly glance at the whole dwelling scene in passing, never knowing what the scene is actually composed of. The rather unconventional style that he is writing in is about the sounds of the words. Like music, the message is determined not only by what is said but by how it is said. Since the structure of the poem breaks up words and cuts phrases into multiple lines, certain words are emphasized like barrow, water and chicken. These are the general items. Normally one would not notice the details.

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  4. This poem is great in that it is simple enough to immediately paint a picture in the reader's head of what it depicts, yet still complex enough to leave the reader wondering exactly what the whole thing means. The poem itself is actually only one sentence that has been separated into four different stanzas. The first stanza ("so much depends upon") sets up the overall meaning and intent of the poem, making the reader wonder exactly why the visual descriptions provided in the next three stanzas are important and who specifically depends on them. The three stanzas("a red wheel barrow, glazed with rain water, beside the white chickens") are descriptions that have no significant importance to me, which tells me that they must not be things that are universally meaningful. They are of personal and emotional significant only to the subject of the poem. The question that I have after reading this piece of poetry is why are these things important to this person? It could be a love for farming, it could be that they are all the person has left to hold on to, or it could be a countless number of other influences. Nevertheless, I feel that Williams not only wants us to focus on the connections the subject of the poem holds with these things, but also to find connections of our own within the poem. He wants us to ask ourselves what it is we hold on to in life and for what purpose we do this.

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  5. What first strikes me from this poem is the way it is set up. There are no capitalizations, and there are no punctuations other than the period at the end. Another thing that strikes me is how the first line of each stanza has three words and then the next line has one. The use of "glazed" makes me think of something in ceramics. In ceramics, one builds a pot and then glazes it before putting it in the kiln. Ceramics are used and worn, making me think this wheelbarrow has been thoroughly used. The contrast of red and white, as stated earlier, seems to be chosen with some thought behind it. It might just be to get the readers' attention, or it might be to describe the perfect "farm-like" setting. The first line of Ben's comment really sums up this poem for me: "This poem is great in that it is simple enough to immediately paint a picture in the reader's head of what it depicts, yet still complex enough to leave the reader wondering exactly what the whole thing means." Williams left it open ended.. and isn't that really the point of a poem? The poet needs to leave a portion of his or her poem open to his or her reader because it will have a different meaning to each individual. "The Red Wheelbarrow" paints a clear literal picture, yet what is the figurative meaning?

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  6. This poem is not about anything specific, its all about the big picture.However, the subtle things make the big picture.The "red wheel barrow glazed with rain water" paints the scene for the place where the white chickens reside.I agree with Anna Claire and her response about how the poem is a simple sentence stuffed with lots of importance, and that importance is determined by our interpretation.

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  7. picture disguised as
    words

    few and far
    between

    why? no singular
    reason

    one for us
    all

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  8. Rebecca makes a great point by bringing up the significance of the first stanza. While it is definitely a poem driven by imagery, there is more lurking behind this imagery--a story of a farmer. William Williams (great name) is writing from the perspective of a farmer, who, without this "red wheel barrow" and the "rain water," would be unable to do his job. He is fully reliant on these simple resources, and it's remarkable how Williams can paint this dependency in so few words. Upon first read, the poem seems ridiculous, but one can really sympathize with the situation once it is clear as to why "so much depends/ upon/ a red wheel/ barrow" (1-4).

    By the way, Boehm--You're the man.

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  9. There is something very rustic and gritty to the imagery that this poem employs. It reminds me a lot of the American South before the Civil War or the Midwest during the Dustbowl. As Anna Claire put it, there is definitely a story that is merely being brushed over that Mr Williams has left the reader to decipher. There is such a simplicity that seems, at least to me, uncommon for the time period. That may have been the purpose that Mr Williams was trying to highlight, that times were changing.

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  10. I agree with what Rebecca said about the first stanza giving meaning to the poem. These two lines humble the reader. We all rely on certain things to get through our daily lives, and after reading this poem many of them seem frivolous. The notion that something so simple and ordinary as a red wheel barrow "glazed with rain water" that sits next to white chickens is of such importance to someone is humbling. A wheel barrow may be what allows someone to put food on his or her table. We have fortunate families and go to a great school where we are provided with so much. We often take advantage of our comfortable surroundings and overlook the essential things in life that allow us to be in our present position. This poem offers the reader a view of an alternate life, and in doing so provokes the reader to reflect upon his or her life and look for the essential things.

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  11. I love Carolyn's comment: "'so much depends on the wheelbarrow', and so much depends on the next word"; I couldn't agree more. In "The Aeneid," Vergil enjambed (or delayed) a subject or verb vital to a sentence's meaning until the next line for emphasis. I think Williams employs the same literary device in his poem, putting emphasis on the words that seem like they must follow. The fact that the words that are left for emphasis (upon, barrow, water, and chickens) are simple is also important to consider. I like Andrew's connection of the farmer's dependency on these basic resources and it is also interesting to look at this dependency on simplicity on a larger scale. The dependency of an entire nation on agriculture- something as simple as a seed. The dependency of humanity on words. Obviously this is my interpretation of Williams's few words, which also speaks to his open-ended approach in "The Red Wheelbarrow" and poetry's part in society (which many others mentioned above).

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  12. One of the questions below the poem asks, "what two ways of observing and valuing the world does this poem imply?". I think this question is important in understanding the poem. At first glance a wheelbarrow seems pretty simple. You can put things inside of it, push it around, and dump things off. It isn't until you think about what this function provides, that you understand the true value of a wheelbarrow. A wheelbarrow is crucial in a farm functioning smoothly. It enables feed, mulch, etc. to be moved to where it needs to be. Without it, the life of farmer becomes much more tiresome. I think what Williams is trying to say, is that we need to understand the value of items that we usually take for granted. In this persons life, it is a red wheelbarrow glazed with rainwater beside the white chickens. In our lives, we overlook how dependent we are on amenities such as running water, or the grocery store down the street. This poem tries to help us appreciate the things in our lives that we don't think about everyday.

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  13. I agree with the people before me who said that Williams paints a clear image in your head when reading this poem. I think it is really interesting how so few words, especially descriptive adjectives, can create such a clear mental picture. I also thought it was interesting how there is no capitalization or punctuation, except the period at the end. I think the lack of capitalization and punctuation helped me focus more on the words Williams used and the meaning behind the words. It took me quite a few attempts at this poem but I finally found some sort of meaning behind Williams' words. This might be completely off but here goes. The poem begins by saying "so much depends upon a red wheel barrow." This seems like a simple thought, but when you think about it, that's a pretty profound statement. Something as simple as a red wheelbarrow serves a large purpose in the lives of people who have to use it daily at home or for their jobs. This poem might be referring to a farmer because Williams says how the wheelbarrow is next to chickens, and a farmer would depend heavily on a wheelbarrow to get his daily tasks done. I think that Williams is trying to make the point that in life we depend on small things to help us get through each day and we shouldn't take these things for granted.

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  14. After reading this poem several times, the one thought that resinates with me is that of simple times. This poem is about a lifestyle different from the way we live today. Life was very rustic back then, and the author does a great job with such a short poem depicting it as such. It is hard to say what is exactly going on, but because the author uses such distinct nouns such as "barrow", "water", and "chickens" the reader can see the overall direction of the actual poem. Although this poem is short and can be seen as a bit fragmented, it still brings value for the differences it has to poems that we have been reading.

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  15. When I first red this poem, I had to take a step back and look at what I'd just read. I re-read it, sure I was missing some secret or the philosophical answer to life within the sixteen words. But I think I only looked that far into it because it's what we've been trained to do (thank you Gatsby). Like my previous classmates, I think the poem is supposed to be simple. It's what makes it so nice. Rebecca said the first line really made a difference in the poem. It would have just described a wheelbarrow, but it says "so much depends on". I think the narrator does depend on this wheelbarrow, and like Emily said, it's humbling. The simplicity of the poem is what makes it so nice. If we were to write a poem about the most important object to us today, it would probably be something like money. The childish nature of the punctuation and content of the poem was personally a breath of fresh air for me.

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  16. This poem appears to be short and sweet. However, I don't think it is short at all. There is so much more meaning behind this poem. William splits the lines in each stanza into two to truly put emphasis on every single word. I considered the question- How would this poem be if the words in the second lines did not exist at all? Then I asked myself: How would the poem change if the words were combined into one line. If the words were on one line it would be as if they did not exist at all. "upon, barrow, water, chickens," are the most important words of the whole poem. The word upon emphasizes how much those who use the wheel barrow depend on it. A red wheel is not the same as a red wheel barrow. I believe what makes the poem so enjoyable is the fact it is so short. When I read the homework assignment, I was afraid I was going to be reading another long poem, one which I would have to close read every word and struggle to interpret. A poem such a The Red Wheelbarrow is refreshing. To Williams, it is that one thing that he feels he can depend on. I believe everyone could write a short poem about one thing that they depend on the most.

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  17. First of all, I read this poem first in 8th grade. I thought it was the most overrated thing ever. Not to say it isn't descriptive, I, along with the rest of my class, was not impressed. That first impression has stuck with me to now. While the poem uses great imagery words (glazed, etc.) I cannot shake that initial impression. I have a hard time believing that so much depends on the inanimate object that is in a close proximity to a chicken. The spell of the poem has been broken for me. I will attempt to move beyond it though.

    The poem is very direct and allows the reader to get into that moment. The reader can see that wheelbarrow (perhaps one s/he remembers from childhood) and cam imagine the beads of dew and drops of water on the object. The line "so much depends on" is interesting. Perhaps the wheelbarrow is a metaphor? A symbol for working hard and being productive? Maybe. I tend to think that the vision hit the poet as being vivid and so he wrote it down in this form. I don't know. At least it is short.

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  18. When I think of a wheelbarrow, a child comes to mind--more so with this poem because of the elementary language and grammar used by the author. This wheelbarrow is the only thing that a child has. The choice of red as the color and the emphasis given could be to portray it as the only bright thing in the child's life. The chickens being specifically referred to as white could mean that they are of a pureness or a gift from God to this child. The rain glazed wheel barrow makes me feel like it is a slippery thing that could be lost without notice. Coupled with the fact that 'so much depends upon' the wheelbarrow, I feel like the motivation behind this poem is the fright of this child that the two important things in their life could be lost. I feel that this poem shows the child's appreciation but also is letting the reader know that child is worried. Possibly the family is poor or they have fallen upon hard times and they might lose their possessions or the child could be dying.

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  19. Hi guys! Sorry I'm not there with you. Terrible sore throat... Dang, y'all are good. Thanks so much for your thoughtful responses. This little thing just got so much bigger. Can't wait to hear your "Red Wheelbarrows" versions tomorrow.

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