William Carlos Williams commented on "The Red Wheel Barrow" on March 19, 1952

I¡¯ve [. . .] gotten some fame, but I should probably say notoriety, from  a  very brief  little  poem  called  ¡°The  Red  Wheelbarrow.¡± [. . .] I had a letter from a lady in Boston [. . .] that said, ¡°I love it. It¡¯s perfectly wonderful. But what does it mean?¡± [audience laughs] In the first place, I say modestly it¡¯s a perfect poem [laughs] [. . .] It means just the same as the opening lines of [John Keats¡¯s] Endymion, ¡°A thing of beauty is a joy forever.¡± And so much depends upon it. But instead of saying ¡°A thing of beauty,¡± I say, ¡°a red wheel / barrow // glazed with rain / water // beside the white / chickens.¡± Isn¡¯t that beautiful?