"A Fire Truck" by Richard Wilbur

The purpose of Richard Wilbur’s “A Fire Truck” is to illustrate the commotion caused by a passing fire truck. The speaker, who is perhaps the arsonist who started the fire, is greatly disturbed by the presence of the “loud, obvious thing” that has disturbed his “brooding.” The poet is able to demonstrate the obtrusiveness of the truck, while also showing the beauty of the “not extinguished fire.”

Poetry has the ability to take something that is mundane and elevate it into something that unbelievably picturesque, and remarkable. Wilbur displays this characteristic of verse superbly by using lines such as “shift at the corner into uproarious gear.” Wilbur also uses description to create splendour in the situation even though he is clearly been disturbed by the “beautiful, heavy, unweary” fire truck. The poet also uses rhetorical devices such as alliteration, “shocked street,” and imagery, “Redness, brass, ladders and hats hurl past.” Furthermore, phrases like “phoenix-red simplicity” and “blurring to sheer verb” are so amazingly perceptive that they create such a sensation that they grab the reader`s attention, and add a sense of emotion to the poem. Also, the use of action verbs in the first two stanzas creates a sense of intensity that shows that the speaker is completely concentrated on the truck.

What truly makes this poem stand out as such a glorious example of verse is that it is able to create beauty out of simplicity, and that it excites and interests the reader.