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William Carlos Williams, "This Is Just to Say"

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Re-Reading Questions

Text on p. 927 of the full Ninth Edition






5





10

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

Re-Reading Questions

1. Re-read the poem out loud, pausing at the line breaks and noting the accented words and the lack of internal punctuation. Why is it a poem and not a note? Perhaps Denise Levertov has one answer in her essay "On the Function of the Line." Like many of Williams's poems, this has been called a "visual poem." That does not mean that it has no meaning, but it does give a sense of its poetic qualities.

2. How is the poem changed by making the title an essential part of the first sentence? What might be implied by "Just"? Although "icebox" was a common word for "refrigerator" or "Frigidaire" at the time, as well as the icebox which preceded the refrigerator, do you see any other reason in the poem it might have been chosen? Why take plums instead of some other fruit or food? What does the poem hint about the "power balance" of the relationship between the writer and the reader? What do the final three lines add to the poem and its tone?

3. Williams has told us that he wrote this poem to his wife, probably jotting it on the back of a prescription form late at night after returning home from seeing a patient. That's his story, at least, although it should definitely not preclude the reader imagining other possible speakers and relationships. After all, a poem, especially one as spare as this, definitely has meanings or scenarios for the reader beyond those present in the poet's intentions and circumstances. Read his wife's response to "This is Just to Say." Is his wife's response a poem? If not, why?

 

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