[274] This Is Just To Say
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.
-- William Carlos Williams
|
I remember this as the first Imagist poem - indeed, the first 'modern' poem of
any sort - that I ever read. Having been schooled on Wordsworth, de la Mare and
Rossetti [1], it came as a bit of a shock to me when I stumbled upon Williams'
laconic beauty in an anthology discovered at a relative's house, one summer
vacation many years ago. This, poetry? Where were the rhymes? Where were the
sunsets and flowers and cute furry animals? Where was the Good Advice for the
Younger Generation [2]? And what was the poem about, anyway?
As faithful readers of my posts have no doubt realized by now, it was the
beginning of a lifelong affair. Recent excursions into the Romantics, the Beats,
the Movement and the Elizabethans notwithstanding, Eliot, Pound, Williams and
their ilk remain among my favourite poets...
thomas.
PS. Oh, you wanted commentary on the poem? I'm sorry, why didn't you say so?
[1] Good poets all; don't get me wrong.
[2] To use Martin's elegant phrase :-)
[Minstrels Links]
A Williams biography can be found at poem #83 along with the first poem
of his to be run on the Minstrels, 'The Red Wheelbarrow'.
Another typical Williams slice-of-life is 'The Artist', which you can read
at poem #213
More on Imagism can be found in the essay accompanying Amy Lowell's
'Generations', Minstrels poem #102, at poem #102
One of my favourite poems by an Imagist poet is Ezra Pound's 'The River
Merchant's Wife: A Letter', which you can read at poem #70
And of course, you can read all our other poems at
http://www.cs.rice.edu/~ssiyer/minstrels/
From: "Hon Quach" <hquach@>
I like this poem too!
From: "Joseph" <bearcub@>
Could it be that the meaning of the poem has nothing to do with love?
Could it be that he is trying to say Forgivness is easier to obtain then
getting what you want so either stop taking advantage of peoples
willingness to forgive or to make forgivness harder to obtain?
Joseph
computer_genius355@
From: "Sebastian Esser" <sebastianesser@>
=B7 Tone: Is he really sorry? Apologetic? Triumphant? Smug? Tactful?
Amused? Good humored?
=B7 Is this a real poem? What makes it worthwhile?
From: Klmcc101@
This is not a nice person! He at the plums he KNEW you were saving for
breakfast, barely makes a decent apology, and then gloats over the wonderful
way they tasted. This guy is not a great guy!
Try Kenneth Koch's poems in tribute to this one...cannot remember the names,
but it really makes one understand this work by WCW.
From: Benita Kape <benita.kape@>
This is an exciting little poem. Doing our own versions of this poem in
a workshop recently was a liberating experience for each of us I am
sure; or, at least it seemed so to me because everyone laughed in a way
which suggested no embarrassment whatsoever.
Re-reading my version I ended up with 5 lines in the final stanza and
looking at that it probably needed to be the words of the first line
that needed to be dropped. Yes, that is; the words Forgive me. But then
I wish it was so simple a thing as a bowl of plums about which I chose
to write.
Sure it was a terrible thing the poet did. But there is a place in the
world for such expressions; and for the lame apology followed by the
pathetic excuse. Put in this way it is little more than a redeemable
prank, especially if his flatmate/partner/whoever can wheedle a
sumptuous dinner in return.
That's why it works. It is such a universal picture - and so easily
remembered.
Helen
From: "Anthony Morgan" <boogie43@>
I beleive the poem symbolizes the first sin of man in the garden. The
plum realy is a fruit, as in the fruit of my loins, the sound of the "s"
is stressed in the poem bringing to mind the snake representing the
devil. Forgive me brings to mind a mistake was made, or to simplify Adam
made the mistake by eating the apple from the restricted tree.
Adam was the fruit of gods loins, the snake came "s", Adam ate the apple
forgive me.
From: "Sue Charles" <scharles@>
I have to go to a wedding shower today with a kitchen theme and I'm supposed
to bring a recipe or poem or reading. I'm bringing this poem. I don't know
if it really is about love or fruit but I like it.
From: =?iso-8859-1?Q?Don_José?= <donjose09@>
I read this as being a bit simpler more so than deep. My family and I leave
notes for each other all the time. I immediately thought of this as being a
note, perhaps from husband to wife, being left as the husband leaves for
work. If the title is prefixed to the first line, and the lines not broken,
it's just a simple little note.
And I thought it so sweet. I have had family members eat my food -- food I
was looking forward to eating, only to go for it and find out it's gone, to
my chagrin and surprise. Anger then sets in, and confrontation ensues. How
much nicer it would be! if the culprit left a simple note alerting me to the
indulgence, instead of absconding. Moreover, I wouldn't mind it if I knew
that the person enjoyed eating it. Perhaps then, on this level, it is about
love.
Interestingly, I came upon this poem in an anthology recently, and was
looking to see if it had been run here yet. It was alongside "January
Morning," another WCW piece I like. Perhaps I'll submit that in a bit.
DJ
From: "Saulo Domingues Marinho" <sdmarinho@>
I guess it doesn't matter what the author meant. There are many
possibilities but each one has one's opinion. I think the REAL question
here is: Why can this little note be considered a poem?
In my opinion, his word selection is what creates the poetic effect.
The apparent simplicity calls our attention at first. Then, we start to
image the situation itself. It seems so soft and sweet, as a plum is.
The irony is revealed with such words as these: "ice-box", "cold" and
"they were delicious" right after "Forgive me". The poem tells a story
and means the opposite, and it has fake and true tips, these are
negative ones and those positive ones.
From: Carolyn McGrath <Carolyn.McGrath@>
I like the discussion this poem has generated and the diversity of responses
are what makes this "note" a poem (and a successful one at that). I remember
being given this to read at school and feeling shock that this was a poem a
teacher thought we should study! It was exciting that it was so accessible
and everyone then felt free to comment on it too and to speculate on the
relationship between the I and the you. Was the thief forgiven? We would
never know, but we all searched for clues and decided (in our teenage
hormonal state) that it was a sexy poem - the sensuality of the
apology/justification expressing a confidence that "you" must understand the
impossibility of "I" ever resisting such temptation - by putting them in the
icebox, you have only yourself to blame!
Carolyn
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From: Leniad <poetry@>
It's a little known fact that WCW actually wrote two more verses to
this poem, which i've reproduced below in their entirety:
I am sorry but
if you really
wanted them
you would have put
your name
on them.
From: "Martin Mak" <mmak11@>
This poem is simply direct and explicit. I have not yet seen a poem in which
possess the simplistic qualities of this poem. Moreover, the way in which
the thoughts and emotions were conveyed were expressed in a very plain
manner. In addition, I also like the way in which the verses are
interrelated, one stanza is connected to the next which makes it more
interesting to read.
Martin Mak
_________________________________________________________________
Express yourself with cool new emoticons http://www.msn.co.uk/specials/myemo
From: "Nora Ghaoui" <nora.ghaoui@>
This poem also inspired the famous MIT error message found at
http://anxiety-closet.mit.edu/junk
404 File Not Found
I ate your Web page.
Forgive me. It was juicy
And tart on my tongue.
Brilliant!
Nora
From: Erik Barnes <rikkus@>
Could it be that everyone who likes this poem, and indeed, this poet,
reads into it and him what they hope to find? Could it be that this
poem is absolute crap, devoid of any real meaning we don't give it? I
don't know for sure, but it sure seems so to me.
From: "Jennifer WIlliams" <Jennlynnwil@>
I myself love poetry and write some myself I am only 14 year old but I
think the poems could rhyme. rhyming helps the rhythm go smoother and
defines it more. I didn't check if you wrote with a number pattern I've
actually tried going something like, 7 8 7 8 7 8 7 8 it just didn't have
a good Rythem even when rhyming! But if you change it like to a certain
type, I'm always bad with the names, like... well 4453 or something like
that it could be really good. If your writing funny poetry like some of
these its also good to rhyme it almost makes it more cheerful and not
like your just trying to draw a picture in someone's mind, like done in
those with the Rose and what not. I don't know. There good Ideas I like
how you've thought of them! I always have a struggle with topic, I'm
religious so usually I find myself writing on God and nothing else, I
hoped by reading poetry it would help broaden my mind, thanks, hope I
helped! Jenn
From: Del & Debbie Rempel <ddrempel@>
i think that adding rhyming to this poem would ruin its sensibility and
seeming straightforward quality. the author obviously wanted it to sound
like a note. to me it seemed to be a playful guesture between two people who
were very close be they married or room-mates it doesnt really matter, in
the last stanza you can almost see the joking smile on the face of the
author as he thinks of the person reading it. and the ability to paint a
picture with words without throwing them into a childlike sing songy manner
is an ability which just shows the excellence of the writer. I love this
poem because of its ability to be straightforward, not necessarily funny but
smile-inducing nonetheless.
Josef N. Callaway