William Carlos Williams published "This Is Just To Say" in 1934. In the poem, the speaker confesses to having sneakily eaten plums from an icebox (a kind of precursor to the modern refrigerator). Because of its casual style, some readers believe it was originally written as a note from Williams to his wife. While the poem certainly can be read as being symbolic—of broad thematic ideas related to temptation, guilt, the Garden of Eden, and so forth—it also might simply be a lovely celebration of life's simple pleasures. A prominent figure of modernist poetry in the United States, Williams was associated with the Imagist movement, which championed the use of clear language and an appreciation of ordinary scenes and images. Although Williams had moved on from this artistic approach by the time he published "This Is Just To Say," the poem's celebration of the joys of eating plums exemplifies the simplicity of Imagism.

• Read the full text of “This Is Just To Say”

• “This Is Just To Say” Summary

• “This Is Just To Say” Themes

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    Temptation, Guilt, and Simple Pleasures

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-12

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “This Is Just To Say”

  • Lines 1-4

    I have eaten ...
    ... the icebox

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 5-8

    and which ...
    ... for breakfast

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 9-12

    Forgive me ...
    ... and so cold

    

    

    

    

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• “This Is Just To Say” Symbols

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    The Plums

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-8
    • Lines 10-12

• “This Is Just To Say” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

  • Apostrophe

    

    

    

    

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    Where apostrophe appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-12

  • Enjambment

    

    

    

    

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    Where enjambment appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-2: “eaten / the”
    • Lines 2-3: “plums / that”
    • Lines 3-4: “in / the”
    • Lines 5-6: “which / you”
    • Lines 6-7: “probably / saving”
    • Line 8: “for”

  • Consonance

    

    

    

    

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    Where consonance appears in the poem:

    • Line 1
    • Line 2
    • Line 3
    • Line 4
    • Line 5
    • Line 6
    • Line 7
    • Line 8
    • Line 9
    • Line 10
    • Line 11
    • Line 12

  • Imagery

    

    

    

    

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    Where imagery appears in the poem:

    • Lines 10-12: “they were delicious / so sweet / and so cold”

  • Diacope

    

    

    

    

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    Where diacope appears in the poem:

    • Line 11: “so”
    • Line 12: “so”

• “This Is Just To Say” Vocabulary

  Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

  • Icebox
  • (Location in poem: )

• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “This Is Just To Say”

  • Form

  • Meter

  • Rhyme Scheme

• “This Is Just To Say” Speaker

• “This Is Just To Say” Setting

• Literary and Historical Context of “This Is Just To Say”

• More “This Is Just To Say” Resources

  • External Resources

    • Williams Reads the Poem — Listen to this recording of William Carlos Williams reading "This Is Just To Say" to a live audience.

    • Adam Driver Recites The Poem — Watch the actor Adam Driver talk about William Carlos Williams and read "This Is Just To Say" in a scene from the 2016 film "Paterson."

    • The Poet's Life — Learn more about William Carlos Williams in this overview of his life and work.

    • Imagism — For more information about the Imagist movement, take a look at this short guide.

    • The Paris Review Interview — Check out The Paris Review's interview with William Carlos Williams, who was the sixth poet they interviewed in their long-running "Art of Poetry" interview series.

  • LitCharts on Other Poems by William Carlos Williams

    • Landscape with the Fall of Icarus

    • Raleigh Was Right

    • Spring and All (By the road to the contagious hospital)

    • The Red Wheelbarrow

    • The Widow's Lament in Springtime

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