According to John Green’ s book « The Fault in Our Starts, » Hazel created the poem that » so much depends upon, a blue sky cut open by the branches of the trees above, upon the transparent G-tube erupting from the gut of the blue-lipped boy, upon this observer of universe » (247). This is the poem she composed herself when she brought Augustus to the hospital, and we can see it is similar to the poem « The Red Wheelbarrow » by William Carlos Williams « . Both poems begin with the verse of « so much depends on », the opening poem makes the reader feel vague but also feels it is a poem full of symbolic images and very special. Through the opening sentence makes every reader think that the images in the next verse will be very symbolic and valuable because it is « so much depends on ». However, in the poem « The Red Wheelbarrow », it opens up very simple images of everyday life, especially in rural areas. Images such as red wheel barrow, rainwater and white chickens are very simple images and can be easily found in gardens. The image of a red wheelbarrow as a metaphor for something very special, the poet used a simple image to describe a special feature, which further made the red wheel barrow becomes very unique. Moreover, on the next wheelbarrow line enamelled with rainwater, we feel that the vehicle has been transformed by a different material, and this rain makes the wheelbarrow different from the beginning. In the last verse, the image of the white chickens shows another image in the garden. Wheelbarrows after the rain change are not the same as they were at first, but the white chickens are normal and they seem to be unrelated to wheelbarrows and rain. Hazel composed the poem herself with images close to a poem in the XXII century, perhaps feeling the similarity of what she is seeing now with the image in an old poem. The image « a blue sky cut open by the branches of the trees above » is similar to the wheelbarrow image, it is also a common image in life without other impacts. I felt that the image of the sky and branches symbolized simplicity and peace in everyday life. Hazel’s second verse « the transparent G-tube erupting from the gut of the blue-lipped boy » corresponds to the « rainwater » of the old poem, as if it represents an event that occurred in life. Daily peace is gone, but instead is a difficult change in life, maybe she is thinking of the image of Augustus fighting his illness. After the images of peace, experiencing problems and finally she created a verse, « this observer of universe ». She opened up a wider picture that is the universe, an endless thing that includes everything in the world. Observer of universe and the white chickens seemed to be the same, they witnessed everything but they couldn’t interfere with them. They can only watch it change whether it changes in the positive or the negative. The two poems seem to convey the same message that life is so diverse and colourful, it does not depend on a fixed thing but it is influenced by many things around us. The earth still rotates according to its rules, so everything in life goes on and no one can stand still before changes in the universe.
Word count: 560.
ca-mai-thy 