Question

What is the tone of the poem This Is Just To Say?

Accepted Answer

The tone of this poem is lighthearted. This short, three-stanza imagist poem is actually a note the poet has written to someone he is close to, apologizing for eating the plums she has saved. The poet writes, "forgive me/they were delicious." He doesn't sound remorseful: his apology is an "oh, s-o-r-r-y" that isn't meant to be taken seriously. Actually, he conveys pleasure and delight that he ate the plums: "they were ... so sweet and so cold."
The light-hearted, flippant tone of the poem reflects the subject matter, the record of a tiny, transitory detail of domestic life. Williams focuses on a fleeting moment, capturing a mundane act--eating someone else's plums--that most poets would overlook. His remorse matches his crime: a small one. 
The flippant voice of the poem, the "sorry!!" aspect, has been much parodied, most famously by Kenneth Koch, who pairs the poet's light-hearted tone with more serious transgressions, such as giving away someone's savings or breaking their leg.

Answer

Tone refers to an author's attitude about a particular subject, and tone is generally conveyed through that author's choice of words. I would also add that tone can be conveyed by what words an author doesn't use as well. I think that applies particularly well to this poem. The narrator does ask for forgiveness, but the narrator also never actually says that he/she is sorry, nor does the speaker say something along the lines of "I didn't realize they were yours."

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold

With that in mind, I would probably describe the tone as unapologetic. I think the speaker is also being...

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William Carlos Williams

What is the tone of the poem This Is Just To Say?

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