William Carlos Williams – Interesting Literature

A Short Analysis of William Carlos Williams’ ‘This Is Just to Say’

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

‘This Is Just to Say’, a 1934 poem written by the American modernist poet William Carlos Williams (1883-1963), offers itself to the reader as a note left by the poet to his wife. Is this all ‘This Is Just to Say’ is: a note of apology Williams penned to his spouse for eating the plums out of the icebox? Or is there more to this poem, which helps to explain its status as one of the most famous, most quoted, and most parodied poems of the twentieth century?

You can read ‘This Is Just to Say’ here before proceeding to our analysis below.

The Best William Carlos Williams Poems Everyone Should Read

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

William Carlos Williams (1883-1963) was a prolific American poet, so picking just ten of his best poems by way of introduction to his work is always going to be a difficult task. However, below we introduce ten of Williams’s best-known and, we believe, best poems, which shine a light on his range, his themes, and his distinctive style.

These poems range from the short imagist lyrics which are among his best-known works to longer, more ambitious projects.

A Short Analysis of William Carlos Williams’ ‘The Red Wheelbarrow’

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

It may be just sixteen words long, and consist of eight short lines, but ‘The Red Wheelbarrow’ by William Carlos Williams has generated more commentary than many longer twentieth-century poems. In this post we offer a short analysis of Williams’ poem, which you can read here.