Tuesday, January 18, 2011
"The Red Wheelbarrow" Blog
Under Fresh Documents on the class web page, you will find one of my favorite poems. Please download and read William Carlos Williams' "The Red Wheelbarrow". Often cited as one of the most cryptic poems ever written, the poem has mystified readers for years. Please interpret the poem in your own way. In no fewer than five sentences, please discuss the poem and its meaning to you. After your entry, please type your initials. Thank you!
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in the poem it says that so much depends on a red wheelbarrow glazed in rain beside white chickens. to me this is told from a young girls perspective and she lives on a farm with her family. her job is to collect the eggs that the chickens lay, and the wheelbarrow carry the eggs. the red of the wheelbarrow shows the pride that the little girl has when ever she goes and shows her father how many eggs she has collected. a little girl depends on the wheelbarrow and so does a family who survives of of the nature.
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To me the poem is saying that the red wheel barrow is like a shelter from the rain to the white chickens. I like how Williams used colors to describe everything like the RED wheel barrow and WHITE chickens. I also like how he said "glazed with rain water" because it was very descriptive and i could like picture it. The poem is really short, but it puts a whole picture in your head. This poem does not have many words and can be pictured in many different ways and gives the reader a lot of space to make up their own conclusions.
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This poem to me is expectation. The first line "so much depends upon a red wheel barrow" this is like someone, a little sibling, who has the perfect family. Both parents went to Harvard and graduated with honors, & they have an older brother who graduated from Yale top in his class. The social status depends on the younger sibling coming through and making the appropriate grades to live up to his families reputation. The 2nd line "glazed with rain beside the white chickens" basically is talking about how sad the child is and how stressful it makes him trying to live up to their expectations. So, he sits in sorrow next to his perfect family (the white chickens) he is a yellow chicken.
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This poem is full of imagery. The red wheel barrow represents the pride. It is also glazed in rain. The rain could represent purity cause water is pure. The wheel barrow has a lot expected of it so it could be God. The white chickens are innocent and do not know what is going on. This is kind of like people today who know not of what God is doing.
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To me, the red wheelbarrow is like shelter for the white chickens. The wheelbarrow could represent someone/something who is educated and experience with the world and the white chickens are like innocent children who don't know anything about the world beyond their families and friends. The person who is experienced is depended on to prepare "the white chickens" for life once they get out of school and have to go and face the real world. The wheelbarrow could be a teacher, parent, family member, or a friend. They can also help make "the white chickens" feel safe.
ReplyDeleteI really honestly have no clue what this means. The only thing that I see is that the Stanzas kind of look like they are shaped like a wheelbarrow. Or maybe the red wheelbarrow is adding color and liveliness to the plain white chickens.
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This poem could literally mean anything, and makes no sense to me. But I guess I could see the red wheelbarrow symbolizing money, and how the whole world depends on it. As it is an essential part of life, its become the like the only part of life. Making money. It's glaze is like a donut. The dough of the donut always has a sweet glaze, as does money. The things that always come with money. Maybe fame, big houses, luxury lives, and anything you can imagine. The ,beside the white chicken, kind of stumbles me in my thought, but maybe the white chicken, are the not as fortunate ones. In an everyday life you go to school and beside you are the janitors whom are not as fortunate to be in our place.
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This poem could mean a lot or nothing at all. I think it's possible to over analyze or under analyze it. In a Christian point of view, I looked up what the color red, in general, could represent and I saw someone put Jesus's blood, and then the rest of the poem made some sense. Rain- Something bad, White chickens- people seeming like they are pure on the outside but sinners and chickens on the inside, Red wheelbarrow- Jesus's blood/sacrifice/God. The people that seem pure or perfect on the outside are actually chickens at heart and sin. When a storm comes, or something bad in their life or world, they run for cover under God and use him just for the things they need and come out when they are done needing from God. Yet, when they are doing fine, they do nothing to serve God, even though He has protected them.
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I see the red wheel barrow as life, the rain as hard times people suffer through, and the chickens as sort of a relief in life. The rain is just glazed over the wheel barrow which means, life can be rough or "soggy" around the edges, but when you look deep past the water, you see the good in life. The chicken are also around the wheel barrow but not in it. That means it is harder to find relief from life or stress but its right around the corner if you try hard enough. The dependence and of the wheel barrow, and items around it, are what everyone goes through in life, all rapped up into one simple poem.
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This poem is meant to show how people depend on so much in daily life. For things to work out, you have to have luck and chance on your side. The red wheelbarrow represents an idea that has to be perfectly balanced. the white chickens are symbols of how the ideas can be shaded or clouded. The wheelbarrow is a life lesson.
ReplyDeleteOutstanding entries, people! I love the diverse commentary!
ReplyDeleteI see the wheelbarrow as a container, holding rain water. Beside the white chickens!
ReplyDeleteThis poem is expressing how complicated life is and is taking us back to the simpler ways of life in the olden days. Things should stay simple and laid back. So that no one has to go through any trouble, just have a good life. the white chickens symbolize how some ideas arent as good as others. The wheelbarrow is a moral.
ReplyDeleteSo short and vague, its confusing but also makes sense. The red wheelbarrow being the last string of protection for the white chickens. Could the chickens be humanity or anything but with something as a last threshold for protection? This is like a general reflection of the world, being able to connect the world with these few stanzas.
ReplyDeleteMaybe this poem means that we depend on a lot of things throughout our life. The red wheelbarrow could symbolize the things we depend on in life. The chickens could symbolize us humans. That is what I took out of this poem.
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