Great Poem: William Carlos Williams "This Is Just To Say"

When I first read this poem a long time ago, I didn't get it. Why did anyone think it was special? He's just eating some plums?

But as I've gotten older, and have read thousands of other poems, I have to come to see the brilliance of it all. In my opinion, there is no meaning to this poem, like many others. No religious or sexual themes or anything like that. What WCW challenges us to do through the use of line breaks and rhythm is to savor each image. He wants to look at each image in the poem and movement of the poem and appreciate it just for the language and nothing else. So try reading it aloud and slowly. Savor each syllable and and be in the moment with it. Then you might see what I'm talking about...

This Is Just To Say
by William Carlos Williams

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