08.7.2012 "This is Just to Say" by William Carlos Williams + Ina's Plum Tatin
You knew this one was coming, right?
Perhaps one of the most analyzed modern poems, "This is Just to Say" leaves great room for interpretation. Critics have assumed everything from uselessness, to regret, to sexual frustration as key themes. Critics not only debate its meaning, but whether the poem is a poem at all. Some claim it was a note scribbled on a napkin left for his wife to find, others question its poetic backbone because, aside from all the lines looking the same aesthetically, the compilation of words is void of discernable metrical form.
Welcome to the world of poetic analysis.
I hope you'll allow me to take you as far away from this world as possible.
There was a time in my life when analyzing poetry was part of the deal. Academia often relies on a more technical form of interpretation, and any good student is expected to know her metrical units (do trochaic, anapaestic and dactylic pentameters sound familiar?). Once upon a time I could read a poem and point to these distinctions, but I find that now, years out of school and with little use for these terms today, I'm much more interested in the emotional current of a poem than whether or not it has five or seven syllables per line. Let's have a read and see what you think.
This is Just to Say
I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the iceboxand which
you were probably
saving
for breakfastForgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold
Personally, I like the idea that Williams left a note for his wife. He ate the plums, regretted it only enough to crack a smile as he was writing said note, then proceeded to take a walk and get on with the morning.
"That you were probably saving for breakfast" reveals a certain intimacy, too, because the speaker assumed a purpose for the plums based on what he knew of his wife. Had he not devoured them, she would have eaten them herself that morning.
From the mind of someone who once thought in verse, this is the kind of poem that just comes to you when it comes. You write it down, walk away, and there it is. You don't force it into a form. You just want it to sound pleasing to the ear and be what it was meant to be: an honest response to a moment in time.
This is the stuff of life. We eat plums our spouse might have been saving. We forget to take out the trash until we can smell the onion peels. We cook together, eat together. This poem is not as much as critics might make it seem (though I'm certain there are many critics out there who would disagree with me).
It might be as simple as this: A little poem about eating plums is too delicious to spend that much time thinking about. Over-analyzing sucks all the joy from the experience of reading it, smiling, and imagining how perfectly ripe those plums must have tasted.
I don't think Williams set out to write this poem before tasting the plums. I think the fact that they were "so delicious and so cold," and perhaps so much better than he may have imagined them tasting, prompted him to realize that they truly were special enough to apologize for taking.
What I'm trying to say is who cares about what this poem really means. It means whatever you want or need it to. Whatever you feel upon reading it is accurate. Stop thinking. Just eat the plums while they're still in season. (Sound good? Give it a tweet!)
INA'S PLUM TATIN
This time, I used a trusty Ina Garten recipe, and hardly changed a thing. Visit the Food Network for her recipe.
Reader Comments (9)
I don't know why but I imagine him sitting on a sunny deck, with plum juice on his fingers, scribbling down this poem. I remember from my days of writing poetry that sometimes, the simplest pleasures (and displeasures) in life demand a firm statement - but a simple one that need not be overanalyzed. I personally love this poem :)
This is the problem with most things in life that are left to interpretation; they need definition to make people feel better. Poems are just like that, they are like an annoying itch to someone and the desire to put it in a category or class makes it hard to accept it could just be a simple note.
Great discussion, and thanks for the photos. I was already hungry, now it's time for breakfast. Too bad I don't have plums...
@Kasey: Oh, I love that! This poem definitely seems like it was written in the moment. Maybe he even left a trace of plum juice on his paper.
@Leif G.S. Notae: Thanks so much for your comment! I agree that sometimes people need definitions to make poems feel understood. It would be best if we all went with our instincts sometimes and just embraced it for what it is instead of writing papers and hosting panels in the subject! Glad you don't have the desire to put this poem in a category, either.
I completely agree with everything you wrote in this post; I studied poetry in college and while at times it was interesting to look at the details of what's at work in the poem (and wasn't scansion a blast!), I find that what stuck with me was the emotional tone of poems. And I've loved this particular poem since a young English teacher at my high school shared it with us with the same simple delight you're sharing it with here. I loved poetry even back then, and the way she delivered it was with a little secret savor that I'll never forget. And this plum tart looks like it tastes as good as the poem! Yum!
I feel like I've found a kindred spirit. My partner is a poet and trochee & anapest are vernacular around here. A writer myself, there's much dinner table discussion about both the virtues and weaknesses of analysis. Ultimately we take a more spiritual approach to poetry, though I think he does scansion for fun. As in all things, I guess there's a balance. I just wrote an ice cream post featuring Wallace Stevens' "The Emporer of Ice Cream"... so I really mean it when I say I feel we're kindred... the blend of the literary & culinary is my passion! And there's something fun about integrating a poem about a funeral into a post about, um, ice cream sandwiches.
I think over-analysis fatigue is present in most disciplines. I studied political theory, and by the end of it it I was ready to tear my hair out, because it got to a point where every word in any text could be insinuated to be classist, racist, misogynist, unjust, etc. It is definitely an over-indulged pass-time of academics to assign meaning to words, images, actions, they never wrote, created, or did. And we all have a justification for why our interpretation is correct.
On that note, I can't help but feel the poet is being somewhat passive-aggressive in only the way intimates truly are. He knew good and well that his wife was saving those plums. Perhaps she had gushed earlier to him about how much she was anticipating them, how she was saving them for that particular morning. And he - not only does he eat them (!) but he feels the need to tell her just how good they really were, perhaps as a form of passive aggressive retribution for some minor affront she had committed previously.
Or maybe he just liked the plums. :)
I love that you say who cares what the poem really means, and I tend to agree, poems are over analysed these days and the enjoyment ripped out of them. Really loving your blog, very enjoyable.
@Beth: Glad you found me! It's so refreshing to find other food/literature folks, so I hope you'll continue visiting. Love your Wallace Stevens pairing -- that's part of the fun to create interesting pairings!
@Calantha: I agree with you -- I think Williams knew his wife was saving the plums but he ate them anyway. It's a great portrait of intimacy.
@Stephen: I appreciate you saying so. I really wanted to take a completely over-analyzed poem and just strip it down and encourage people to go with their gut when it comes to interpretation.
I always loved this poem - it gave me courage to find poetry in everything, and that maybe I could approach writing in general however I wanted.
Your tatin looks lovely! I love plum desserts.