This Is Just To Say
About the Poet
The notable American poet and writer of the 20th century, William Carlos Williams was born on September 17, 1883, in Rutherford, New Jersey, the USA. He started writing poems from his school days. Though he was professionally a doctor, he became famous for his poetry. He wrote and worked with Ezra Pound, the next modernist writer in America and published some volumes, too. But in the later days, he became famous for his style of presenting the simple things in a crafty way. His major poetic works are Spring and All (1923), Paterson (1964), and Pictures from Brueghel and Other Poems (1962). He received National Book Award for poetry in 1950 and Pulitzer Prize(Posthumously) in 1963. He died on March 4, 1963.
About the Poem
The poem ‘This Is Just To Say’ was written by William Carlos Williams. It was first published in 1934. This poem is about a person who regrets his hasty action and offers a confession.
Choice, regret and negative aspect of human nature are the major themes of the poem. This simple yet short poem accounts the speaker’s mistake and regrets simultaneously. He admits that he has eaten the plums, preserved in the icebox for breakfast. He fails to resist himself and enjoy eating the plums. A few moments later, he realizes that he has done something wrong and pleads for forgiveness. The choice of words indicates that his confession is not sincere. He attempts to describe the sweet taste of the plums. Through this poem, the poet comments upon the flaw of human nature. We sometimes perform certain acts that make us stand on the verge of embarrassment.
The poem is divided into three four-line stanzas, and the lines are all about the same length. The poem has no punctuation marks. It seems to mean that it's just one sentence. However, the word ‘Forgive’ which is capitalized in the third stanza, makes us realize that we're dealing with a new sentence.
Imagery is used in the poem when the speaker asserts that the plums are delicious, sweet and cold. The plums symbolize any pleasurable experience that a person can either embrace or delay.
Summary of the Poem
The speaker says that he has eaten plums from the icebox, which someone else probably saved for breakfast. He did not bother to ask before eating them. Later, he regrets for his action and asks to be forgiven. To his surprise, the plums were cold, sweet, and delicious. On a deep level, the poem reveals the negative aspect of human nature. Instead of accepting mistakes truly, we simply say that we could not control ourselves. Hence, the poet reveals the weaknesses of human nature.
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