"The Red Wheelbarrow" by William Carlos Williams is one of his shortest poems, according to Nina Baym, that was published in his volume of poems entitled Spring and All (Baym 1221-22). Although the poem is very short compared to some of his other works, it has a lot to talk about such as structure, imagery, style, and other important aspects that we look at when we analyze a poem. With Carlos' contradicting style in this poem, it was hard to figure out where he was coming from. Through looking at the aspects of this poem we will explore why he is so ambiguous in his writing.
The first thing I think is important about this poem is what exactly is it about. My idea of what the poem is about a farmer looking out the window while he is waiting for it to stop raining, having random thoughts, and happens to notice the red wheelbarrow beside the chickens and thinking how much of his life actually depends on this miniscule object.
Williams v. Vesnina - US OPEN '08
English: Wheelbarrow at a construction site at Duk...
English: The poet Riposte of the American poet Wil...The farmer then comes to realize that maybe he is not taking care of something that is taking care of him so much. The reason I think the farmer suddenly realizes what is happening is when Williams says it is "glazed with rain water" and then he states that it is "beside the white chickens" like it was just randomly left there to get ruined. This shows that he realizes his fault of leaving it out in the rain, but is he really talking about this red wheelbarrow or is he talking about something more ambiguous such society in America during this time? If he is talking about American society, what exactly is he trying to convey?
The structure of the poem may lend us an answer...