The Red Wheelbarrow

The poem is a single sentence divided into four unrhymed couplets; the first line of each couplet has three words, and the second line of each couplet has a single word. Given the fragmentary look of the poem and the generous use of white space, the form is inviting and unintimidating. The form creates a feeling of calm and encourages lingering over the words themselves. There is no capitalization to mark the beginning of the sentence, no urgent rush to a period at the end; thus, the form suggests the image itself is suspended within the eternal present of a sentence that has no beginning and no end.

The form is a variation on the ancient Japanese tradition of the haiku, a brief poem that uses as its subject some intoxicating image pulled from nature. Like Williams’ poem, the haiku provides no context and does not compel the image captured to mean more than what it is, a gorgeous something snatched from an otherwise neutral landscape. The tone of a haiku, thus, is detached and subjective. Williams plays with the haiku’s traditional 17 syllables (the poem has 22 syllables) but maintains its tone and formal appearance.