For some reason, William Carlos Willliams never seems to disappoint me. This goes way beyond just having a really cool name. One of my major disappointments about class last Wednesday was the fact that we never got to "The Red Wheelbarrow". As a high school student I made a solid attempt to figure out just what this poem was actually saying, but ultimately got nowhere. As I read it for class last week, I had a few ideas, feel free to let me know how I did. I believe that the poem is more of a tribute to the working class and a criticism of those who mock them. The first two lines, "So much depends/upon" stress importance. Easy enough. However, the next few aren't so easy. I believe that a wheelbarrow is chosen because its only function is work, which is what the upper class believe of the working class. The fact that it is a red wheelbarrow could either mean blood or because wheelbarrow's are typically red, that there is nothing particularly special about it. "Glazed with rain/water" I figured was the sweat that comes from the labor. The last two lines "beside the white/chickens" I thought referred to the upper class or "white collar". I think he uses chickens because on a typical farm, they do little else except lay eggs, eat and are eventually killed for food. I know this post is a little late, it probably should have gone up last week, but I'm really hoping to talk about "To Elsie" in class tomorrow.