The Red Wheelbarrow Essay Questions

Why does Williams use the image of white chickens in the final stanza of the poem?

The white chickens serve to highlight the wheelbarrow as the poem's main image and give the scene background. By including chickens in the poem, Williams has made it clear that it is set in a rural place, likely a farm. In this way the chickens subtly build out the rest of the scene. The use of the word "white" also creates a strong color contrast with the "red" of the wheelbarrow, adding further detail to the imagery.

Why is the poem written in such a spare style?

The poem is written in a remarkably spare style in order to clearly convey its specific images. By spacing the images out (wheelbarrow, rainwater, chickens) in different stanzas, Williams is better able to slow the reader down and require them to go over each one slowly. In addition, by not using figurative language, he is able to show the objects in their starkly material forms. The exacting quality of Williams's language and structure assists him in keeping these objects clear in the reader's mind.