This Is Just To Say

dustyreviewer

Dec 9

To view more poems I have examined, click HERE.

This Is Just To Say

by William Carlos Williams

I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox

and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold

_________________________

This short, odd poem is written in free verse, with no set meter or rhyme scheme, and it represents an example of modernist, imagist poetry. The poem is twelve lines, broken into three four-line stanzas (quatrains.) Each line of the poem is brief, consisting of only one or two words, and there is no punctuation in the piece, so the pacing feel quick.

The poem is written in the first person perspective. The lack of punctuation causes the piece to feel awkward and halting, the way that an actual apology might be for an offense like this one if delivered face to face. The portion of the "apology" after line 9 begins, feels as though the speaker is sorry.. but also not sorry. Or perhaps the apology is written to someone who is likely to receive the note warmly despite the annoyance.

I am generally not a big fan of modernist poetry. A lot of modernist, free verse poets seem to write by thinking of a sentence, and then putting in a line break every few words. Or maybe I'm just not smart enough to get it. I prefer poetry when it works like architecture, with a structure and style lifting its ideas up, making them both memorable and beautiful. However, in an instance where the idea conveyed is relatively meaningless (as is the case here), I think the lack of a true form works really well.

Williams' piece here successfully conveys a clear mental picture. The reader can easily imagine themselves in the Speaker's place, the person to whom the piece is penned, and the taste the plums.

Who is William Carlos Williams?

William Carlos Williams (September 17, 1883 – March 4, 1963) was an American poet, writer, and physician closely associated with modernism and imagism.

In addition to writing, Williams was a physician practicing both pediatrics and general medicine. He was affiliated with Passaic General Hospital, where he served as the hospital's chief of pediatrics from 1924 until his death. The hospital, which is now known as St. Mary's General Hospital, paid tribute to Williams with a memorial plaque that states "We walk the wards that Williams walked"