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Sunday, April 23, 2023

The Red Wheelbarrow - La carretilla roja /
William Carlos Williams


XXII

so much depends
upon

a red wheel
barrow

glazed with rain
water

beside the white
chickens

~~
William Carlos Williams (1883-1963), 1921
from Spring and All, 1923

[Poem is in the public domain in Canada and the United States]


William Carlos Williams reads "The Red Wheelbarrow." Courtesy YouTube

La carretilla roja

tanto depende
sobre

una carretilla
roja

esmaltado con agua
de lluvia

al lado del pollos
blancos

~~
William Carlos Williams
translated by George J. Dance, 2018


4 comments:

  1. This poem is sited quite often when free verse is taught. A commentary type of freely spoken poem about an everyday utilitarian object, a wheel barrow, a necessary tool. But significant that it is a 'red' wheelbarrow which stands out especially when wet with rain, the reader imagines the white chickens next to the rain wet red wheelbarrow, Williams paints a picture with the words he has chosen. His chosen lineation creates a poem, causing the reader to pause at the right time, lending proper cadence to the what otherwise would be a simple everyday statement. One thinks about 'to depend', this is essential 'to depend' on something, something that does the job. In life we, living things, plants, animals depend on so much, our body, for one.

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  2. Except for that "so much depends / upon," it's just a well-done imagist poem. Those lines make it more, but what exactly; scholars have been debating what they mean for years. To me, since he gives a reader such a vivid picture of the wheelbarrow, makes the reader really see it, the lines are saying that it's important to do just that: to stop and *look* at the wheelbarrow, in the same way it's important to stop and smell the roses.

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