This Poem Is Sad (Question 8)

William Carlos Williams' "The Widow's Lament in Springtime" carries a tone of, well, lament (surprise, surprise). Throughout the poem, the speaker's descriptions reflect a deep feeling of regret and sorrow. The poem even begins with the line "Sorrow is my own yard" (1): the place that is closest to her is filled with sorrow, and she goes on to describe a "cold fire/ that closes round me this year" (5-6). It is then that we learn that her husband's death is the source of the widow's grief. It is interesting to notice her style in describing two different aspects of her yard: the grass that contains the "cold fire" (5), and the tree that is described as filled with color. Yet even when the speaker does describe the colors of the tree, the description is rather vague: instead of specifics, she simply states that the flowers "color some bushes/ yellow and some red" (13-14). She does not go into great detail, as she did in describing the flaming grass, but chooses to describe the symbol of happiness in the yard as vague and murky, giving the reason that "the grief in [her] heart/ is stronger than they/ for though they were [her] joy/ formerly, today [she] notice[s] them/ and turned away forgetting" (15-19). She is filled with such grief and sorrow that she forces herself to try to forget the memories of her past with her husband, as she cannot move on while remembering. Overall, the speaker seems bogged down with sorrow and mourning for the death of her husband, and this tone is vividly reflected in the speaker's diction.