munching a plum on
the street a paper bag
of them in her hand

They taste good to her
They taste good
to her. They taste
good to her

You can see it by
the way she gives herself
to the one half
sucked out in her hand

Comforted
a solace of ripe plums
seeming to fill the air
They taste good to her

Analysis, meaning and summary of William Carlos Williams's poem To A Poor Old Woman

3 Comments

  1. Big Lew says:

    It is the real srtist who invites us to see the world in a new way. To take the common-ness of plums and help us see the full-ness of life in that mundane act of a poor old woman relishing the moment–enjoying the basic-sweetness of her plums; this is the enjoyment of life made plain in the simple things around us.

  2. Brnadon Block says:

    It’s a poem about plums, yes. But also about being here now, about the ways that we can be transported out of feelings of pain and anxiety if we can give ourselves over fully to life’s small pleasures. So yes it’s about plums (perfect, round, the promised momentary perfection of the world), and love, and poetry, and being here in the now-ness of life.
    One of my favorites

  3. Heather Feather says:

    this poem makes me hungry…
    MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM. Plummmmy. 🙂
    I love the way this poem explains how the plums taste.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Do you have any comments, criticism, paraphrasis or analysis of this poem that you feel would assist other visitors in understanding the meaning or the theme of this poem by William Carlos Williams better? If accepted, your analysis will be added to this page of American Poems. Together we can build a wealth of information, but it will take some discipline and determination.