Poems contain many different types of contents and can take many different forms. The content and form can influence our perception of what art is or what can be considered as art. Two poems that capture the concept of content and form and how it influences what we see as art are: “The Red Wheelbarrow” by William Carlos Williams and “l(a” by E.E. Cummings. Williams’s poem really captures the essence of how simple the content can be but at the same time, captures the essence of how meaningful simple content can be. Simple content, written by Williams, refers to content that is about quotidian things or objects in our everyday lives. In the case of this poem, the quotidian object is the wheelbarrow. This shows that anything can be art. In Cummings’s …show more content…
The idea of significance is brought up here because art is thought to contain important things. In the speaker of the poem saying “so much depends upon a wheel barrow,” it presents the idea that the wheelbarrow is significant and therefore the wheelbarrow can be art. Many people depend upon a General in a battle which gives them great power and dominance over other things. This is what Williams does with the wheelbarrow. This dependence that is placed on the wheelbarrow makes it seem commanding and authoritative which gives the object great significance. All this shows that anything, even a meaningless wheelbarrow, can be art. Art is seen as something beautiful and Williams illustrates the fact that even the simplest things can be …show more content…
Cummings’s poem “l(a” would be considered a very strange poem by many people. The form of this poem is not something that readers come by often. The first thing that one notices when they start to read is how difficult it is to even actually read the poem. Words are cut off abruptly and sentences are placed in the middle of words. The poem is written in a way that looks like the number one or a figure standing by itself. This adds to the meaning of the poem through the form. The poem is about loneliness and it is written in a way that shows that isolation. As noted by Iain Landles, the entire poem only consists of four words, “loneliness,” “a leaf falls”. Even though there are four words the form of the poem really propels the meaning to the reader. “(a leaf falls)” gives the reader the image of a single leaf falling from a tree. That shows a single one thing, isolated and by itself. The form also contributes to the seclusion by the location where the words are being cut off. The words cut off at such a point where it forces the reader to carefully look at each and every letter in order to make up the word. These sorts of line breaks portray the idea that all the letters need to be alone in order to make up a sentence which is a combination of single letters put together. This notion is contradicting yet in a way necessary to understand the message of the poem. The concept of putting together details translates into art. In forcing the reader to carefully look at each