This Is Just To Say quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. Which literary genres best describe “This Is Just To Say”?

   • Romantic Poetry & Pastoral Ode
   • Victorian Poetry & Narrative Ballad
   • Correct answer: Modernist Poetry & Free Verse
   • Metaphysical Poetry & Sonnet
   • Beat Poetry & Spoken Word

   Modernist Poetry & Free Verse is the best fit. Published in 1934, the poem breaks with older rules: no rhyme, no regular meter, no punctuation, and everyday words set in short lines. Free verse means poetry that follows the rhythm of speech instead of a fixed pattern.

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2. 2

   Question 2. What does the speaker confess to in the first stanza?

   • Throwing out the plums that had gone soft in the icebox
   • Correct answer: Eating the plums that were being kept in the icebox
   • Giving away the plums that were meant for a neighbor
   • Forgetting to put the plums back in the cold icebox

   The poem opens with a plain confession: “I have eaten / the plums / that were in / the icebox.” The plums are already gone; the note simply admits it. Nothing in the poem mentions throwing them out, giving them away or leaving them out.

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3. 3

   Question 3. What does the speaker guess about the plums in the second stanza?

   • They had been bought as a gift for a sick friend
   • They were too ripe to last until the next weekend
   • They had been set aside to bake into a fruit pie
   • Correct answer: The reader was probably saving them for breakfast

   The second stanza reads: “and which / you were probably / saving / for breakfast.” The speaker admits the plums were meant for someone else. The word “probably” shows it is a guess: the speaker is not even sure what they were for.

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4. 4

   Question 4. What does "icebox" mean in this story?

   • Correct answer: A cabinet kept cold by a block of ice; an early refrigerator
   • A cold cellar dug under a house to store roots and apples
   • A metal tray used to freeze water into cubes for drinks
   • A box packed with snow to carry food on winter journeys

   An icebox was a wooden or metal cabinet that kept food cold with a large block of ice, delivered to the house and replaced as it melted. It is an older word for a refrigerator. Many Americans still had iceboxes in the 1930s, when the poem was published, and some people still call a refrigerator an icebox today.

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5. 5

   Question 5. How does the title work together with the start of the poem?

   • It names the stolen fruit first, so the plums come as no surprise
   • It gives the day and hour the note was written and left behind
   • Correct answer: It reads as the note’s first words, running into “I have eaten”
   • It warns that the poem is a joke and should not be taken seriously

   Read together, the title and first line make one sentence: This is just to say I have eaten the plums. Many readers notice that the title is not a label set above the poem but the opening of the note itself. The title never mentions plums, a time or a joke.

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6. 6

   Question 6. What is unusual about the poem’s punctuation?

   • Correct answer: It has none at all — no commas, and no period at the end
   • Every line ends in a comma, so it reads as one long breath
   • Each stanza ends with a period, making three short sentences
   • It uses question marks to show the speaker is unsure and shy

   There is no punctuation anywhere in the poem — not even a period after “and so cold.” The only capital letters are on “I” and “Forgive.” Without punctuation, the line breaks do the work of pausing the reader, and the note can feel quick and informal, like something scribbled and left on a table.

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7. 7

   Question 7. The poem’s lines are very short, some only one or two words long. What effect do the line breaks have?

   • They make the poem rhyme, since short lines end on matching sounds
   • They turn the note into a song with a steady beat and a chorus
   • They hide what happened, so the reader cannot tell who ate the fruit
   • Correct answer: They slow the reader down, so each small phrase gets its own moment

   Short lines were one of Williams’s main tools. By breaking the note into tiny pieces, he makes the reader pause on each one: “saving” alone on a line, then “for breakfast,” then “so sweet,” then “and so cold.” Words that would race by in a real note become things to notice one at a time. The poem has no rhyme or regular beat, and it says plainly who ate the plums: “I.”

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8. 8

   Question 8. What is surprising about the third stanza?

   • The speaker refuses to apologize and blames the reader for the loss
   • Correct answer: Right after asking forgiveness, the speaker savors the plums’ taste
   • The speaker promises to replace the plums before breakfast tomorrow
   • The speaker admits the plums were spoiled and warns the reader off

   The stanza begins “Forgive me” and goes straight on to “they were delicious / so sweet / and so cold.” The apology is followed at once by pleasure, not regret. That is the poem’s turn, and it is why many readers wonder whether the speaker is really sorry. There is no promise to replace the plums and no complaint about them.

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9. 9

   Question 9. Which senses does the final stanza appeal to most?

   • Sight and sound — the plums’ color and the hum of the icebox
   • Smell and sight — the scent of the plums and their dark skin
   • Correct answer: Taste and touch — how sweet the plums were, and how cold
   • Sound and smell — the bite of the fruit and kitchen aromas

   “Delicious” and “so sweet” are about taste, and “so cold” is about touch — the chill of fruit straight from the icebox. Williams gives no color, sound or smell. Ending on taste and touch lets the reader almost feel the plums too.

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10. 10

    Question 10. Did it happen? Review these statements about the poem and mark each one.

    • The speaker says the plums were taken from the icebox.

      Happened

      The first stanza says the plums “were in / the icebox.” The poem never mentions a table, a bowl or a tree.

    • The speaker promises to buy more plums.

      Didn't happen

      The note makes no promise. It confesses, guesses what the plums were for, asks forgiveness and describes their taste — then simply stops.

    • The speaker asks the reader for forgiveness.

      Happened

      The third stanza opens with “Forgive me,” one of only two places in the poem with a capital letter.

    • The poem names the person the note is written to.

      Didn't happen

      The poem only says “you.” It never gives a name. The reader learns only that this person was probably saving the plums for breakfast.

    • The speaker says the plums tasted sour.

      Didn't happen

      The plums were “delicious / so sweet / and so cold.” Nothing in the poem suggests they were sour or unripe.

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11. 11

    Question 11. Readers have long argued about whether the note is a real apology. Which reading is best supported by the words of the poem?

    • Correct answer: It is sorry and pleased at once — asking forgiveness while still savoring the plums
    • It is a pure apology, with no hint anywhere that the speaker enjoyed the plums
    • It is an angry note, written to complain that the plums had been hidden away
    • It is a riddle, and the plums stand for a secret the speaker refuses to reveal

    The words hold both feelings. The speaker does ask “Forgive me” — but the next lines linger on how “delicious,” “so sweet” and “so cold” the plums were. That mix of guilt and pleasure is what keeps readers arguing. The note is too gentle to be angry, too plain to be a riddle, and too full of the plums’ taste to be a pure apology.

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