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This is Just to Say by William Carlos Williams

Jul 09 2007 - 1 min read

A chilly poem for a hot summer's day from William Carlos Williams.

William Carlos Williams

With the presumably brief reappearance of the sun, we clearly need a poem that's not going to detain us indoors for too long, and here's one that also delivers some nicely refreshing reflection.

When challenged about how this apparently "found" item amounted to a poem rather than just some old note left on a fridge, William Carlos Williams is said to have claimed that it was absolutely metrically regular. Which is odd, because it plainly isn't. And yet it burns into the memory like few others, even if the subject seems to be a chilly frost setting in on a love affair.

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

Original: theguardian.com

Author: Lindesay Irvine