Guilt In William Carlos Williams This Is Just To Say

Think back to a time you felt bad about an action you have taken. That’s probably very easy for you to do because, as humans, we make mistakes. Then soon after, we truly regret those mistakes and feel guilt or remorse. This is a character trait that is hopefully ingrained in the vast majority of us, however there are always the outliers that are deceitful about their own guilt to others. In “This is Just to Say” by William Carlos Williams, and “Variations of a Theme by William Carlos Williams” by Kenneth Koch, the two poems have very similar thematic meanings. The first poem shows us truthful, childlike remorse through a quick three stanzas, and in “Variations of a Theme by William Carlos Williams” the speaker has copious amounts of apologies

This conclusion can be drawn by looking thoroughly at the poem’s last two stanzas. The actual apology that is issued through the poem is delivered in the last stanza, but the second stanza says, “and which you were probably saving for breakfast”. This may not appear as much, but through a childlike sense of mind, this could be a major moment, as the speaker realized the repercussions of their actions, and exhibits remorse, “Forgive me they were delicious so sweet and so cold”. The speaker now has shown the reader the steps to apology: #1) recognize the error, #2) analyze the repercussions, #3) make a meaningful apology, and finally #4) prove your condolences by not repeating those actions.

First he says, “I have eaten the plums that were in the icebox”, this is step one, recognizing the error. Then he says, “and which you were probably saving for breakfast” showing step two, the effects of his actions. Next he says, “Forgive me they were delicious so sweet and so cold”, exemplifying the third step, sincere apologies. The fourth step is not something that is written down, but can be inferred; the poem ends, and at no point does the speaker repeat his wrong