. “A red wheel” (3) and “glazed with rain” (5) are all monosyllabic words used to elongate the line, putting an unordinary pause between the words “wheel” (3) and “barrow” (4) and likewise with “rain”(5) and “water” (6). These pauses have the effect of breaking the image down to its most basic parts. Using the sentence as a painter uses line and color, Williams breaks up the words in order to see the object more closely. Next, Williams intricately tunes the poem by using assonance. The first and second stanzas are linked by the long “o” in “so” (1) and “barrow” (4). The long vowels in “glazed in rain” (5) match the same construction of “beside the white” (7). In the last stanza, another interesting occurrence are the sounds “ch” and “enz” in the last word of the poem that echoes the sounds of the initial line, “so much depends” (1). Every single word and space has been put there intentionally.The simplicity of this poem is marvelous. Williams takes fundamental objects and transforms them into a work of art. A wheelbarrow was a breakthrough piece of equipment still in use today. The “wheel barrow” (3-4), by design, is simple, yet functional. Farm life evolved dramatically due to its invention. The “red wheel barrow” (3-4) is such a familiar image that anyone can picture it. The same is true with “white chickens” (7-8). “White chickens” (7-8) are as fundamental as a “red wheel barrow” (3-4). They both have important use on a farm. Just from those two concrete objects, Williams has painted a picture of a farm. A farm is the epitome of the “simple life.” This poem also radiates a child-like quality that makes me think of my childhood. Somewhere in this picture I can invision a little boy in muddy overall...
