This Is Just to Say
by William Carlos Williams
POEM SUMMARY
“This Is Just to Say” is a 12-line poem written in a seemingly casual, conversational tone. It reads like a note left on a kitchen table—an informal apology from the speaker to someone (likely a spouse or housemate) for eating some plums that were not theirs. While the speaker acknowledges the act and asks for forgiveness, the vivid, sensual description of the plums as “so sweet / and so cold” suggests a certain unapologetic pleasure in the transgression.
The poem is often seen as a prime example of Imagist and Modernist poetry for its everyday subject, spare form, and focus on sensory experience. Despite its apparent simplicity, the poem opens up questions about intimacy, temptation, guilt, and aesthetic experience in daily life.
LITERARY ANALYSIS
Form and Structure
• Free Verse: The poem is written in three stanzas of four short lines each, with no punctuation and no rhyme or meter. This structure mimics the natural rhythm of speech and lends the poem its understated, intimate tone.
• Everyday Language: Williams’s use of plain diction reflects his poetic philosophy of valuing “no ideas but in things.” The everyday moment is elevated through close attention to ordinary words and objects.
Themes
• Desire and Temptation: The act of eating the plums—despite knowing they were being saved—introduces a subtle exploration of indulgence. The speaker seems more delighted than regretful, suggesting that human desire often overrides social or relational norms.
• Apology or Justification? The poem raises questions about sincerity. While it begins as an apology, the sensuous description of the plums in the final stanza seems to revel in the act rather than express remorse. Is the speaker asking for forgiveness, or simply explaining why it was worth it?
• Intimacy and Domesticity: The implied relationship between the speaker and the recipient invites readers to consider how small, shared domestic moments—like food, apologies, and notes— can carry emotional weight. The poem becomes a miniature portrait of intimacy.
• Art in the Ordinary: Like much of Williams’s work, “This Is Just to Say” challenges traditional ideas about what constitutes poetry. By transforming a domestic note into a poem, he invites readers to find beauty, complexity, and form in the everyday.
Tone and Voice
• Conversational and Playful: The casual, almost flippant tone adds humor and ambiguity to the poem. The voice is honest but also teasing, perhaps testing the boundaries of forgiveness and affection.
• Sensory Detail: The final lines—“so sweet / and so cold”—elevate the sensory experience to poetic intensity. These adjectives evoke not only taste but the emotional pleasure of the moment.
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
1. Is the speaker truly sorry? Why or why not?
2. How does the poem’s form
(free verse, short lines, no punctuation) affect its tone and meaning?
3. What does the poem say about the relationship between ordinary experience and poetry?
4. How might this poem be read differently in a romantic vs. platonic domestic context?
5. Why has this seemingly simple poem had such a lasting impact on American poetry?
FINAL THOUGHTS
“This Is Just to Say” distills a fleeting domestic moment into a lasting poetic expression. Its brilliance lies in its economy, subtlety, and sensuality—offering a layered look at human relationships, daily pleasures, and the poetic potential of the mundane. Through restraint and suggestion, Williams invites us to question how much “just saying” really says.