For Viola: De Gustibus

For Viola: De Gustibus - meaning Summary

Affection Framed as Taste

Williams addresses a beloved named Viola, praising her uniqueness through a string of gustatory metaphors. He elevates her above luxury foods—caviar, Norwegian herring, pimento—yet pairs admiration with a quiet ache in the final image of quince and "despondency." The poem turns taste into an idiom of love: sensual, playful, slightly elegiac, insisting that the beloved’s flavor and piquancy surpass any worldly substitute.