This Is Just To Say

372 Words2 Pages
The poem contradicts between the “real” meaning and the “actual” meaning. The Real meaning is very literal and the actual meaning has a deeper meaning to what the poem actually is. In “This is Just to Say” by William Carlos Williams, the poets use of connotation and denotation shows that people take things that are forbidden and apologize for their wrong doings and expect to be forgiven but also telling them how good it was, thus proving that forbidden things make it more attractive and pleasurable. Williams uses denotation to elucidate the actual meaning of the poem. “I have eaten the plums that were in the icebox and which you were probably saving for breakfast” he denotes that the narrator has taken the plum that does not belong to him. However, Williams shows that he uses connotation to demonstrate that people take other things for granted or take things that are forbidden. The tone presented in “Forgive me they were delicious” exemplifies guilt. The narrator knows that he has done something wrong and asks for his forgiveness. The poet incorporates the tone to show that after a person has done wrong, like stealing or cheating, as a reaction, we ask for forgiveness, either because we have real guilt or because we believe we should ask for forgiveness without actually meaning it. Pleasure is personified to illuminate the author’s true feelings about the plum being eaten. “So sweet and so cold” symbolizes that the forgiveness he has asked for wasn’t sympathetic due to the fact that he did not regret eating the delicious plum. Also, the tone that the author produces is teasing, teasing the owner of the plum by expressing how good the plum actually was, and that the owner can’t have it anymore because he ate it. The poet ends with a tone that is inevitable to the theme of the poem. It supports the theme that people are more attracted to the forbidden
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