When reading a poem, readers are advised to concern themselves with both the literal meaning and the figurative one.
While literal meaning is the basic and ordinary sense, figurative meaning is the abstract and imaginative one.
The Red Wheelbarrow By William Carlos Williams This famous poem is arranged in couplets on the page.
In that sense, each line forms the shape of a classic wheelbarrow, interestingly.
Literally, it is the poem about the red wheelbarrow - the small open cart with one wheel and handles that is used to carry things in the garden.
In the imaginative sense, the wheelbarrow can be considered as a symbol, a representation of the ordinary-yet-helpful items.
Day by day, such the normal items can make life much easier with their simple look.
The thoughtful readers prefer to read the poem in that way.
What's more, it is informed that the author Williams spent most of his life working as the doctor on many farms.
Thus, some readers assume that the poem somehow emphasizes the importance of wheelbarrow on the farms.
Many civilians depend on the cart for livelihood as the first line "so much depends".
The Legend By Garrett Hongo This is a story about a naïve bystander who is killed in the failed robbery.
In this story, the author has naturally combined the power of the literal scene and figurative language.
While doing his laundry in Chicago, the man hears "cries of pedestrians".
He encounters the robber and is killed tragically.
At that moment, the narrator witnesses his slow death "A few sounds escape from his mouth".
In the plain sense, the narrator feels ashamed because of the boy's loss.
Then, the images of "the night sky" and "the weaver girl" ask the reader to think beyond the literalness.
Obviously, the sky can't cover the man as well as the weaver girl is only the fictitious figure; thus, she is unable to take the man's cold hands.
In the metaphorical level, the poem is created in the memory of the innocent bystander.
Stopping By Wood On A Snowy Evening By Robert Frost In the literal sense, the poem is a story about a guy traveling through a snowy wood.
He finds it hard to steer himself away from the lovely scene.
However, he has to keep going as he needs to return to the town to rest.
Being included in the college textbook, the poem embraces much preciously figurative meaning.
The images like "the snowy wood, miles to go, sleep" can be figuratively interpreted.
In that sense, "wood and snow" represent the nature's beauty.
Besides, while "miles to go" allude to the long journey of life, "sleep" implies death.
Furthermore, in some cases, the beauty, loveliness, and darkness are dangerous to humans' life.
Just a wandering glance or a wrong movement in the snow can drive the man to collapse, and even die unconsciously.
In a word, poetry meaning interpretation needs to be done logically with the right connection between the concrete and the abstract.