Can anybody explain this Poem to me this Please because I read this poem no make sense to me. The Red Wheelbarrow William Carlos Williams -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- so much depends upon a red wheel barrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens.
This is just a guess... It might be saying that the wheelbarrow is the only thing of value that the family has; it's a priceless (to them) tool that life would be impossible without. The rain/water/chickens part shows how the wheelbarrow isn't some beautiful work; it can be pretty ill treated and banged up, but to some people (like the possible farm family in this story) it is the thing holding them between a harsh life and an impossible life.
Thanks a lot
I took this from Wikipedia: "With regard to the inspiration for the poem, Williams wrote that it sprang from affection for an old Negro named Marshall. He had been a fisherman, caught porgies off Gloucester. He used to tell me how he had to work in the hold in freezing weather, standing ankle deep in cracked ice packing down the fish. He said he didn’t feel cold. He never felt cold in his life until just recently. I liked that man, and his son Milton almost as much. In his back yard I saw the red wheelbarrow surrounded by the white chickens. I suppose my affection for the old man somehow got into the writing.[4]" I think the real object, the wheelbarrow - is a symbol of his affection for Marshall.
Join our real-time social learning platform and learn together with your friends!