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To a Poor Old Woman

To a Poor Old Woman

By William Carlos Williams 1883–1963
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

William Carlos Williams, "“To a Poor Old Woman”" from Collected Poems: 1909-1939, Volume I copyright 1938 by New Directions Publishing Corp. Reprinted by permission of New Directions Publishing Corp.

Source: Collected Poems: 1909-1939 Volume I (New Directions Publishing Corporation, 1939)

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Poet William Carlos Williams 1883–1963

POET’S REGION U.S., Mid-Atlantic

SCHOOL / PERIOD Imagist

Subjects Eating & Drinking, Activities, Social Commentaries, Money & Economics

Poetic Terms Refrain, Metaphor

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