Plum Into Poetry

"Plums.  We're reading a poem about plums.  How riveting."  These, of course, were my initial thoughts as we began our unit on poetry in A.P. English by reading William Carlos Williams' "This Is Just To Say."  I found it inane and trivial, to say the least - it "bore the exculpatory ticket of high intent" (McEwan 66).  I could probably write a comparable poem right now:

This Is Just To Say
I have used
the toilet paper
that was in
the bathroom

and which
you were
going to use
after a large meal

Forgive me
it was four ply
double quilted
so soft

These, though, were just my first thoughts - I soon saw a new side of this small, simple poem.  It transformed in front of my eyes from a bland string of words to a painting of "enticing sweetness and melancholy" (82).  The depth of our analysis impressed me.  We had uncovered in a shallow-seeming poem "rich orchestral textures of sinuous harmony" (145).  Perhaps there was something to these poems.  "This Is Just To Say" helped me realize that poems can require a great deal of thought and insight to fully understand.  Then again, it doesn't rhyme, so there was clearly room for improvement.