William Carlos Williams wrote this poem in 1923. It was supposed to have been written as Williams, a pediatrician, was attending to a very sick young girl. The poem depicts the image that was outside her window.
Williams would have been influenced by the Imagist poets, like Ezra Pound. Imagists believed in using their poetry to portray pictures of life all around them. The deeper, symbolic meanings that are associated with so many Romantic poets were not important - only the clear and pure representation of modern life. This poem certainly holds true to that form.
However, with this genesis of the poem in mind, readers can connect Williams image to the beauty and importance of life itself. The red wheelbarrow is symbolic of the blood of life, and the rain of life-giving water. The white chicken is the innocent person, like an innocent young girl. So much depends upon her being able to have the necessary elements of life - the blood and the water. Life should go on.
Considering the time period, there can be another inferred theme. The Industrial Revolution shifted the focus of this country from agricultural centers to urban centers. Cities became heavily populated, and factories were tearing up both the landscape and the air quality. This pure image of farm life is a reminder of how important the agrarian lifestyle is.
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