In the Comments section below, please post a response of at least one full paragraph (min. 5 sentences). Your assignment is twofold: 1) you are to demonstrate a clear understanding of the text by attempting to summarize the text's argument as precisely as possible, and 2) you are to use your comment to ask the text (or ask your peers) at least one thoughtful question.
Remember: your comment can respond directly to other students' posts on this text. The goal of this forum is to offer an opportunity for intelligent dialogue related to the works we are studying in class. Respectful debate is always welcome.
This poem seems to be a regular note, which was written such a way that it would capture its reader into not being angry with the author at the fact that the author ate their plums. The author saw that the person would truly have been angry with him. I believe he used his poetic talent not to divert the readers attention away from the eaten plums, but to ease the person from been angry.
ReplyDeleteI believe the title of this poem is the most important part, Williams wrote this as a note to somebody just to tell them that he ate their plums. Modernism is about taking refuge and Williams finds refuge in communication. All communication could become poetry if we all just listened more closely to eachother and found the importance of what is being said. My question is what made Williams note so special that it is still being read many years after it was written.
ReplyDeleteMaddy, I was wondering the same thing. I mean if I wrote a note and left it on the fridge it may not even be read by the person I left it for, let alone people that have nothing to do with it. I think that this is unique because of the structure of it. What I mean by that is that it kind of sounds like it is arranged out of order and its kind of different sounding. Maybe that just me but I think that something in the way that it sounds makes it stand out and interest people.
ReplyDeleteWhy are poets always so weird? I mean, do they not have something normal they can write about? I'm sure there's some deep underlying meaning in this poem, as there are in most other poems we read, but I just found this one particularly ridiculous. What I got out of " This Is Just to Say" by William Carlos Williams, was a very typical message of temptation. He saw the plum, he wanted the plum, he took and ate the plum, and now is sorry that he did. The thing about temptation is that you cannot call an accident. The narrator knew that the plum did not belong to him, but completely disregarded any sense of moral values, and took it anyway. The only thing I'm not really sure about is whether or not the narrator is sorry about taking the with plums, or if he's sorry because of how good they were.
ReplyDeleteI agree that this poem has not point. I dont think that Williams had a deep meaning he was trying to get through. He could have written this poem randomly for no reason and expected people to try and figure out what it means while all the while knowing that there was nothing. I think the one lesson I learned from reading this poem was not to steal food out of people's freezers. Though there could have been a deeper meaning, Williams does not do a good job of giving the readers a hint as to what it could be.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Folarin. I think that poem is infact just a regular note. It is just him saying, "Yeah, I ate your plums. They were really good. Well, sorry." He does not really seem sorry though. It seems more like he feels obligated to say sorry so he does. He writes this in the form of the poem to infact capture the reader's attention and calm them. Something written in a form of a poem cannot make one angry.
ReplyDeleteI think that the poet may have intended for this to only be a note. However, maybe he thought by breaking it up in stanzas, he could trick the person he left the note for into trying to "decode" his poem, when in fact he had no deeper meaning. Maybe he is challenging us to interpret what this could mean. He comes across as saying "I'm just saying this, but feel free to try and make something deeper out of it." My question is, do you think he intended it as our job to come up with the deeper meaning? Do you think he is challenging us to make something deeper out of this simple note?
ReplyDeleteI agree with Gracie that Williams may have just intended it to be a note. He makes the note look like a poem by having stanzas, so that they look closer at the note. By doing this the person becomes more focused on figuring out what the poem means. Since they are focused on the poem, they will forget that they are angry that someoune ate their plums and may become them angry trying to figure out what the poem means. I think that there is still a meaning by making the note look like a poem in order for the reader to try to understand the note.
ReplyDelete"This Is Just To Say"
ReplyDeleteWe have taken
the whale
that was on
the whiteboard
and which
probably hasn't been
receiving
the food we've been sending
Forgive us
he was so voluptuous
so free
and so kidnapped
- you know where to find us...BRING THE RANSOM
(mike lentz did not post this...)
Well not-mike that was actuly a pretty good imitation of the original poem haha. But anyways, i agree with Caleb. Williams wrote the note in poem format so that the reader would actuly READ the note. This was very clever of him because he must have been aware (like we talked about in class) if he just wrote it like a note the owner of said plums would either not read it, or just be really mad about his plums being gone. I really like that Williams came up with this idea because it is very clever and very true. My question is why must humans be "entertained" by somthing in order to pay attention to it like this poem/note?
ReplyDeleteI feel like the reader would have read the note regardless of it's format. If someone posts a note on the icebox or fridge, it will most likely be read. My question is why are we still reading this after such a long period of time? All it is is a note taunting someone about their missing plumbs and how delicious they were. Maybe I'm missing the bigger picture but to me it just seems like a clever way to tease someone about something they wanted but can't have.
ReplyDelete