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William Carlos Williams, "This Is Just to Say"

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Playing with the Poem

This poem is often called a "found poem," ordinary words which, when put into poetic format, become art or a poem. It's a playful form which lends itself to parody and imitation. A more sophisticated poetic response, which merges the Williams poem with another "found poem," is this poem by Greg Ritter. In your anthology, read Kenneth Koch's "Variations on a Theme by William Carlos Williams" (LIT 1149, LITS 886). Try writing your own "found poem" or a parody of this "apology"; this is more fun if several students collaborate on one poem.

The "Juicy Fruit" Image

Fruits such as plums, pears, or persimmons often appear in literature, especially poems, to represent sensuality, color, and taste, or even poetry itself. Archibald MacLeish's "Ars Poetica" begins, "A poem should be as palpable and mute / As a globed fruit." This poem would be quite different, for example, if the speaker had taken milk or eggs instead of plums.  Think about the role of these "juicy fruits" in poems such as these (and look for other examples), and let these poems "talk to each other."

"The Word Plum" by Helen Chasin
"Persimmons" by Li-Young Lee
"Sunday Morning" by Wallace Stevens
"Blackberry Eating" by Galway Kinnell
Alan Shefsky's "plum poems" from his book, Plums/Poems

Imagism, Poetry, and Art

Imagistic poetry and art have very close connections, as can be seen from Professor Filreis's class materials. Williams even wrote a number of poems on artistic masterpieces, such as these poems (with images of the associated paintings). Although "This Is Just to Say" is not about art, it is a kind of informal piece of art, a note, perhaps framed by the refrigerator. Another LITWEB poem is W. H. Auden's "Musée des Beaux Arts"; Williams also wrote a poem, "Landscape with the Fall of Icarus," which responds to the Bruegel painting. Explore connections between poetry and art by drawing on some of these materials (see interpretation by Audrey T. Rogers).

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