Thursday, August 21, 2014

Poem of the Day: "The Red Wheelbarrow" by William Carlos Williams, Poet of the Month

The Songs of Eretz Poem of the Day for August 21, 2014 is "The Red Wheelbarrow" by William Carlos Williams, Poet of the Month.  The poem was taken from The Collected Poems of William Carlos Williams, Volume 1: 1909 - 1939.  The text of the poem, as well as an audio recording by the poet of it, may be found here:  http://www.poetryfoundation.org/learning/guide/178804#poem.  A brief biography of Williams and references may be found here:  http://eretzsongs.blogspot.com/2014/08/the-songs-of-eretz-poet-of-month-for.html.

Non-sequitor or deeply profound?  It is difficult to decide into which category "The Red Wheelbarrow" should be placed.  There is a bit of the Imagist Williams here, as a crisp image of the wet red barrow contrasting with the white chickens is evoked.  But then, why it is that "so much depends / upon" a wheelbarrow?  Perhaps the poet's aim was to get his readers to think outside the box--or at least outside the barrow.

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