This poem only consists of 8 short lines, but far beyond that is what’s truly hidden in between each word. This poem holds its own special details and characteristics that I feel no other poems could bring out. The feeling and emotions of what this poem portrays in only a few lines is what astonishes me the most. The ambedo and melancholic trance feeling that emerges inside my brain when I read this piece makes me dig deep within my thoughts. This poem has the ability to bring out more than what it can hold and expresses so much detail with the 16 simple words it consists of. I decided to use these words and come up with my own perspective on what I think this poem portrays and symbolizes.
First Stanza: “so much depends upon”
This stanza does not bring out too much information. So much depends upon something unknown but something that holds a special value. It leaves the readers at a confused/unclear state but still understands what is being told. “So much depends upon…”
This stanza also structures the whole poem and leads the readers into a certain path.
Second Stanza: “a red wheelbarrow”
It was a great choice to immediately connect it to the first stanza that was previously read. That brought up a great limpid imagery and made it so much easier to connect to the author’s thoughts. “A bright red wheelbarrow standing still beside an unknown farmhouse.” Notice that the sentence states “red” wheelbarrow and not just any wheelbarrow. The color red is one of the very details that really helped with the unique style of this poem. Red usually resembles desire or determination, whereas, the first stanza stated “so much depends upon.” The connections of these 2 stanzas made me realize a great metaphor of what it could really represent. “So much depends upon desire” The wheelbarrow no longer is a nonliving thing, instead, it represents something more important and more relevant to reality. The human desire.
Third Stanza: “glazed with rain water”
Notice the word choice. The word choice explains deeply about the style and tone of this entire poem. The poet used the word “glazed” instead of “covered” or “overlayed.” This helps the readers to set the mood in a tranquil/serene atmosphere. “Rainwater” was also another small unnoticeable detail. The poet especially grabbed onto this word for a reason because this word brings more contrasts into the atmosphere. It’s able to add a new feeling to the setting of the story. This is what I came up with: “So much depends upon true desire. The true desire comes from the minutes and seconds from the clock. Like how raindrops stroll down, making contact with the ground.” The rain symbolizes time, time passes by from the beginning of a raindrop falling down from the sky to the second it touches the ground.
Fourth Stanza: “beside the white chickens”
Chickens are living animals, every living thing requires basic thought processes for it to live. The chickens have a meaning of “thought” or “perspective”. The word “white” also stands out drastically. White symbolizes “balance” and “equality.” Which connects to the previous word “thought.”
The true desire comes from seconds and minutes from the clock, and requires a balanced perspective to be successfully achieved.
In Conclusion
I made an overall conclusion on what this poem could represent. Everyone has different opinions so everyone’s versions of what this poem could potentially represent is different. But my overall version is: “So much depends upon desire. The true desire comes from minutes and seconds of the clock. Like how the raindrops stroll down, making contact with the ground. It requires a balanced perspective to be successfully achieved.”
These few sentences basically translate into: “everyone learns how to find the best of them by using time as a tool to learn and using thoughts as a tool to discover.”
