The Widow's Lament in Springtime Essay Questions

Why does Williams choose to set the poem in the springtime?

Williams sets the poem in the springtime because it highlights the speaker's grief. She finds herself unable to find happiness in the colorful blossoming occurring in her backyard because it only reminds her of the death of her husband. Watching the arrival of spring was something they used to share, and now it only brings her sadness to see it. Williams makes use of this dissonance by showing how the meaning of a formerly joyful thing can be changed by loss.

What is the poem's central theme?

This poem is about loss. The speaker is a recently widowed woman suffering greatly from grief. The poem seeks to capture the way in which the absence of a loved one can alter a person's perception of images and events. The speaker describes beautiful scenes of a spring day in full bloom, but because of the absence of her husband, she finds herself completely cut off from any of the comfort or happiness she used to find in it.