Williams composed “This Is Just to Say” in free verse, meaning that the poem doesn’t use a regular metrical scheme. The lack of regular meter helps Williams achieve a greater sense of simplicity in the poem’s language than he otherwise might have managed. Metrical regularity creates a noticeable rhythmic pattern. Many poets in the twentieth century resisted the use of meter precisely because they wanted to avoid such patterns, which they felt sounded too artificial. Like these poets, Williams sought a linguistic style that would flow freely and naturally. In this poem, then, he resists the use of meter in order to capture the natural cadence of ordinary American speech. Williams simulates this cadence by writing lines of slightly varying lengths, ranging from two to five syllables. The poem’s twelve lines have the following distribution of syllables, grouped here by stanza: 4233, 2523, and 3523. Although no obvious pattern arises in this distribution, two aspects do remain consistent. First, the lines are consistently short. Second, the line lengths are consistently varied. These two consistencies work together to create the effect of simple, natural language.