Red Wheelbarrow

“The Red Wheelbarrow,” like other Williams poems, is tentative. It lacks punctuation, relies on erratic or unusual lineation, and generally dissolves the traditional boundaries between one thing, or idea, and another.

According to Williams, a villanelle is a form of “gilt” that is there for decoration alone. This gilt can be applied to the wheels of the hearse or to a small portion of the poem, if so desired, by the poet without over-embellishment. This point is further emphasized with the line “ no upholstery, phew! And no little brass rollers and small easy wheels on the bottom.” These features refer to other stylistic conventions used by some poets. The narrator in “Tract” insists that “on this [a rough dray] the coffin should lie by its own weight.” This can be interpreted to say that the poem should be judged as good or bad solely on the basis of its literal meaning and content; not on pretence and frills injected into the art. Because of its rhyme scheme and syntax, Dylan Thomas’ poem seems to be elegant. If the sophisticated style were removed, what would the poem say? What kind of poem would it be without the rhyme scheme? These are questions asked by William Carlos Williams’ “Tract.”

The writer makes use of diction to express his feelings towards the literary work and to set the dramatic tone of the poem. Throughout the poem, there is repetition of the word “I”, which shows the narrator’s individual feeling of change in the heart, as he experiences the sight of hundreds of birds fly across the October sky. As the speaker effortlessly recounts the story, it is revealed how deeply personal it is to him. Updike applies the words “flock” and “bird” repetitively to the poem, considering the whole poem is about the sight of seeing so many birds and the effect this has on a person. When the speaker first sees the flock of birds in lines 8-10, alliteration is applied to draw attention to what the narrator is witnessing. In line 29, Updike

The setting of this poem is in a rural part of an unnamed Southern state, off of Highway 96 at Cherrylog Road. It is at the peak of a summer afternoon in a junkyard full of discarded automobiles. This setting affects the reader’s perception of this poem by using a hot southern junkyard with an active sun that is “eating the paint in blisters from a hundred car

Bruce Dawe uses symbols to create moods showing sadness and the loss of hope. Dawe’s line ‘and when the loaded ute bumps down the drive past the blackberry canes with their last shriveled fruit’, the blackberries were used as an indicator of time, on their arrival the berries were the 'first of the season' but by the time when they drove past the blackberry cane was they're saw only 'their last shrivelled fruit'. This tells us that they perhaps only stayed for about two or three months. ‘The brown kelpie pup will start dashing about, tripping everyone up’ The dog run around barking, shows the scene of a chaotic house, it also conveys a sense of bad luck to the family. A “kelpie” is an Australian sheepdog, in Scottish it refers to an evil water spirit that takes the form of a horse and drowns travellers. This cross-meaning gives the poem a sense of danger, implying that the family is not only traveling with a puppy for the children but is also an omen of bad luck. The unexpectedness of the move is conveyed by the fact that the tomatoes are still green on the vine. They never live in the one place long enough for the tomatoes to ripen. This could be the same for other aspects of their lives, making new friends could be an example. They started to become friendly with the

W.H. Auden and Bruce Dawe, in their respective poems ‘Stop All The Clocks’ and ‘Suburban Lovers’, depict two different reactions to love. Auden’s use of an A, A, B, B, rhyme scheme creates rhythm through each of his 4 stanaz. Contrastingly, Dawe uses syllabic rhythm such as “on the fleet diesel that interprets them, like music on a roller-piano as they move, over the rhythmic rails”. Dawe also uses alliteration to create this similar pattern such as “breeze blowing”, “cliff of kissing” and “sandstone sustaining”. Both of these techniques create tone within each poem allowing the reader to reflect the mood of each poem. Auden’s rhyme scheme portrays a tone of sadness and grief in its simple structure and Dawe reflecting a tone of joy and longing

From the beginning of William Carlos Williams’ poem “The Red Wheelbarrow” the reader is captured by the statement “so much depends” (Williams line 1). As this short work continues the reader is seeing a graceful image that Williams creates. The mind’s eye can envision a painting that is tranquil, yet has the quiet activity of a rural farm home. With this in mind, what exactly is the author sharing with the reader? The poem communicates charmingly the dependence a man has for a vital piece of equipment.

My initial reaction was that of puzzlement after reading the poem, "Red Wheelbarrow" by William Carlos Williams. Due to its brevity, I didn't know what to make of it. However, upon deeper reflection, I came to realize that this poem, although brief in its entirety, utilizes imagery to convey a plethora of ideas and emotions to the reader. Therefore, by utilizing specific steps such as deciphering key phrases within the poem, determining the poem's overall message, and identifying central images in the poem, I was able to appreciate the poem and its overall message.

"The Red Wheelbarrow" takes place in a rural setting, despite the spread of modernism buzzing through urban cities. While drawing attention to the rural scene, Williams calls readers to appreciate the value of the wheelbarrow and common methods of food production by saying that “so much depends upon it”. Thus, so much depends on a machine which requires hard work and manual labor. This image contrasts the modernist means of production, which are largely controlled by factories and other automated services. In this way, the wheelbarrow is a symbol of the hard work and self-achievement which define America's values. Moreover, the colors of the images connect to the American identity. The red wheelbarrow, white chickens, and blue rainwater all

In the poem “The Red Wheelbarrow” by William Carlos Willams, there are multiple different ways one can decipher a meaning about what the writer is trying to portray. This poem is particularly short, which means that the reader has to try and grasp the idea that the writer is trying to portray, with the very few words given. Specific words in this poem have a sense of love and lust, but with a twist of loneliness for those who don’t believe in it. Starting off the poem with the three words “so much depends”, reveals to the reader what the author is about to say, has a sentimental value to him. The pronoun “so much” reveals all of something that can be revealed in a certain time period. Beginning the poem with these two words allows the reader to understand how much something depends

Sometimes students are left with the misconception that poetry has to fit a certain format, but by using “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” and “The Red Wheelbarrow,” those misconceptions could be proven

Poetry is an example of written literature. In ancient Greek, poetry means “I create” – an art form in which language is used for its aesthetic qualities (Poetry.org, 2005). Poetry is a piece of literature that helps people to express their feelings and emotions. People can express their sad, happy, and romantic feelings through poetry. There are many poets in the United States such as Theodore Roethke, Robert frost, Emily Dickinson, William Carlos Williams, and many others. In this paper, there will be an introduction to William Carlos Williams and one of his poems, “The Red Wheelbarrow”. There would be also an explication of the poem based on reader’s interpretation.

A red wheelbarrow? No, ‘a red wheel/barrow’ the words in line three stretches the line, placing an unusual pause between the words ‘wheel’ and ‘barrow’. This sudden separation of the phrase deconstructs the word and this effect breaks the image down. ‘Wheelbarrow’ and ‘rainwater’ both break at certain times in the poem and have various meaning but when together they become a whole other meaning that fits well together. The word ‘upon’ in the second line fits nicely with the fourth line ‘barrow’ since the definition of that word describes a rectangular form to carry a load and that allows for all these words to be combined to achieve a bigger

Furthermore, this poem lacks any punctuation and proper grammar, yielding the idea that the stanzas never essentially begin or end (Kirszner, & Mandell, 2017). Without proper punctuation, the lines run together, with no breaks or differentiation between a stanza and a couplet. Moreover, that the lines themselves appear to create a unity within themselves because each focuses on a single element. An example is that the wheelbarrow, the rain water, and the chickens are all grouped together (Williams, 1923).

‘Rain’ is written in free verse blank verse – an irregular stress pattern. This is one of the most common forms of poetry that Thomas uses often. He plays with the rhythm and intensity of each line through a number of different means, each used in order to give a sense of the increasing and decreasing intensity of the rain on the room and walls of the hut, and Thomas’ response to this. To create this effect, Thomas uses repetition, internal rhyming and uses the spondee ‘wild rain’. Another feature of the poem is the use of monologue, giving entry into Thomas’ thoughts in solitude, in which the reader is an implied listener – ‘hearing’ his fears and thoughts of the poet as he puts you in his place. The poem’s tone is disarmingly open, even confessional. This line introduces two important feature of the poem. Firstly, the repetition of the words – ‘rain’ here, but also ‘solitude’ that becomes a theme of the poem. He paused given by the