Wheels Red
How is the poem “The Red Wheelbarrow” by William Carlos Williams considered good?
here it is:
so much depends
upon
a red wheel
barrow
glazed with rain
water
beside the white
chickens.
I love this poem – I read it years ago, and it stuck in my mind.
To me it tells of the juxtaposition of one thing to another – creating a telling image. Without the white chickens, the wheelbarrow would go unnoticed, if it hadn’t been raining – again it wouldn’t have stood out. So, each plays a part in creating some-thing memorable. Raising up the ordinary, or mundane into something picturesque.
I don’t know what the official critique would be of this poem – these are just my observations.
It also is perfect in the placing of the words on the page, creating pauses exactly just so to make you read each phrase at a certain pace. Maybe even the mirroring of the two last phrases helps to create a memorable whole.
The fact that there is no preamble, it just launches you into the poem also appeals to me. It cuts out all unnecessary words.
So, that’s what makes it good for me.
