Point of View

It is difficult to discern from which perspective "The Red Wheelbarrow" is written, as there are no personal pronouns used throughout the poem. Instead, the focus is entirely on the image of the wheelbarrow next to the chickens. One could say the poem is written from the third-person or even omniscient perspective, a common convention of Imagist poetry that strives to present images rather than emotions or commentary on the image at hand. The one instance of a potential speaker comes in the first two lines: "so much depends / upon" (1-2). Here, a claim or opinion is offered to frame the image to come. However, this claim quickly gives way to the image itself, and is never picked up again. This seeming presence of a discernible speaker serves as a type of poetic red herring for what is primarily an Imagist poem.

Language and Meaning