Loss
The poem's central theme is loss. As pointed out by the title, the speaker is a widow, trying to reckon with the loss of her husband (as underscored by the use of the word "lament"). However, the poem is not an abstract meditation on the nature of grief; instead, it uses the physical space of nature to explore this theme. The speaker looks at the blossoming of spring in her backyard and feels the loss of her husband acutely. She states that this is because she cannot enjoy this beauty in the same way that she did when her husband was alive. Without him, this seasonal ritual has been disrupted and made hollow. The poem shows the way in which loss is felt as absence, permanently altering the former meaning of a moment.
The Seasons
One of the poem's main themes is the progression of the seasons. Williams makes the notable choice of making this poem about spring. This setting creates a juxtaposition between the speaker's grief over her husband's death and the new life occurring with the spring bloom of plants. Williams uses this contrast to amplify the way in which the speaker cannot fully embrace the vivacious scene in front of her because its meaning is no longer the same. In this text, the arrival of spring shows the seasons progressing in a circular manner while human life advances linearly. The speaker cannot stand this beautiful scene because, despite its recurrence, it doesn't have the same feeling without her husband.
Meaning
Intertwined with its exploration of loss, the poem also looks into the theme of meaning. While Williams maintains his straightforward style throughout, the poem attempts to capture how a natural scene can lose or change its meaning based on circumstance. The speaker of the poem is unable to enjoy the colorful spring day unfolding in her backyard because she is aware that its beauty does not have the same meaning without the presence of her husband. This painful emotion experienced by the speaker shows that these images of springtime blooms, despite their radiance, do not have a fixed meaning; they are shaped by the beholder's state of mind.
