I have eaten
the plums
Like many of Williams's poems, this one gets right to the point. Like a confession or statement of a crime, these opening lines clearly state what he has done. The plums have been eaten. All the lines that follow will offer apology, explanation, and sense memory; but this beginning is essential to a reading of the poem, as it is a plain admission of what the speaker has done. Also, in a manner equally typical of Williams's work, it gives the reader a clear image of what has occurred, without any evasion of artifice. Like the sort of kitchen counter note Williams was mimicking, these lines of the poem are entirely direct.
you were probably
saving
for breakfast
After the initial admission of what he has done, the speaker goes on to detail his remorse about it. The second stanza is where the reader hears the first notes of this feeling. In introducing the "you" of the poem (the addressee—presumably the speaker's wife), Williams demonstrates that these plums actually belonged to someone else. Furthermore, in observing that she was likely "saving" them "for breakfast," he makes it clear that in his moment of weakness he has taken this anticipated pleasure away from her. This also shows a contrast between the speaker and his wife. She has been saving these plums where he merely ate them in an instance of recklessness.
so sweet
and so cold
These final lines are striking in their vividness. For all of the simplicity in his work, Williams was always careful in his selection of sensory details. This moment is a clear example of that. He describes the plums as being "sweet" and "cold" as he remarks upon their delicious taste earlier in the stanza. He portrays the way in which the taste was so immensely enjoyable that the trace he recalls is still strongly present in his mind. This, in turn, makes him feel even guiltier. Not only did he eat the plums, but, worse yet, he very much enjoyed them. This inclusion of these descriptors allows the reader to intuit the speaker's mixed feelings about having eaten the plums without having to state it outright. The intensity of the speaker's sense memory implies that the plums were hard to resist. In this way, it is appropriate that the poem ends with these lines. The repetition of "so" and the intensity of the description suggest that these plums left an impression that cannot be easily dismissed.
