Contents: IntroductionPoem Text Poem Summary Themes Critical Overview Criticism Sources For Further Study |
Style
“The Red Wheelbarrow” is a poem which rose out of the Imagism movement in the early twentieth century. The poem is composed in free verse and uses unusual stanza breaks and assonance to emphasize the tone of the poem.
Imagism was a movement in early twentieth century poetry that emphasized concise language and fresh imagery over abstract ideas.
Free verse is verse that does not use a formal or regular pattern of meter or rhyme. The lines and stanzas are of variable length and it relies more on images and figurative language to show meaning.
Assonance is a literary device in which identical vowels are repeated in a line or stanza. The usually elongated sound it forms contributes to the tone and rhythm of a poem. Notice the assonance in line 5 in the words “glazed” and “rain?” Tone is the attitude of the voice in the poem. Tone is often displayed by images, figures of speech, and rhythm.
