The Red Wheelbarrow<\/em>, by William Carlos Williams (1883 – 1963) is an example of an imagist poem.<\/p>\n so much depends<\/p>\n upon<\/p>\n a red wheel<\/p>\n barrow<\/p>\n glazed with rain<\/p>\n water<\/p>\n beside the white<\/p>\n chickens.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n There have been many discussions and theories about this simple little poem. \u00a0Was it meant to be simple, or is there hidden meaning, plumbing the depths of our sub-conscious?<\/p>\n “I was fumbling around, looking for a way to make sense of my life, and seized on William Carlos Williams\u2019s<\/a> poems . . . \u00a0His poems were experimental yet safe\u2014a combo I craved in my extra-dark teenage years.”\u00a0 Craig Morgan Teicher, Poetry Foundation<\/a><\/p>\n One teacher describes imagist poems as “use of exact words, avoid clich\u00e9s, create new rhythms, freedom \u00a0of subject choice, presents an image, is tight\/distilled\/concentrated, and uses suggestion rather than stating things directly.” This teacher said, “Post WWI, people lost a lot of hope in religion and Williams was commenting on this. ”<\/p>\n The teacher elaborated:<\/p>\n “So much depends<\/em><\/p>\n The use of 3 words in the beginning is a reference to the holy trinity.<\/p>\n a red wheel<\/em><\/p>\n barrow<\/em><\/p>\n The second stanza: barrow is separated from wheel. “Barrow” is a large mound of stones, which symbolize Christ’s burial. “Red” represents the blood of Christ.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The teacher continues: “A wheelbarrow is used for hauling things, much like Christ carried mankind’s burden on himself. There’s transmogrification happening (unusual transformation). The wheelbarrow becomes Christ, the rain water symbolizes Holy water, and the white chickens represents angels.”<\/p>\n Or, as another teacher said, “Williams, a country doctor, had been up all night with a sick child. He may have looked out the farm house window and saw this scene.”<\/p>\n
![\"Red](\"http:\/\/thewritespot.us\/marlenecullenblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Red-wheelbarrow-and-chicks.png\")
<\/a>What do you think?\u00a0 Is The Red Wheelbarrow full of hidden meaning, or is it a simple American haiku?<\/p>\n