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The Widow's Lament in Springtime

The Widow's Lament in Springtime

by William Carlos Williams

The Widow's Lament in Springtime Analysis

Symbols, Imagery, Wordplay

Form and Meter

Go ahead. We dare you to spot a rhyme. How about meter – is there any of that? Nope. There's none of that fancy stuff here. "The Widow's Lament in Springtime" is free verse at its freest. We can...


Despite the fact that our poet is very much a man, our speaker is very much a woman, and a widow at that. Although we don't know much about her specifically, we can totally picture the scene: a lon...


We'd call this poem an interior poem. And not just in the sense that it takes place inside our speaker's mind, in the realm of her emotions. But also because our speaker, from the way she describes...

Sound Check

This poem is all about silence. Look at those skinny lines, and all that white space they leave on the right side of the page. Listen to the way the poem takes a sentence like the first one and bre...

What's Up With the Title?

We've got a widow. And she's lamenting. Oh, and it's springtime. Consider the scene set. Let's start with those first three words: "The Widow's Lament." By saying "The Widow" the title already give...

Calling Card

You probably noticed (and we already pointed out) that this poem has some pretty short lines. And while certainly not every Williams poem has short lines, it's something that he has come to be know...


There are some deep connections here, but the poem, beginning with the title, is not too shy about making them clear.


"The Widow's Lament in Springtime" is a tribute to Williams's mother. Uh, gee, thanks, son? (Source.)Williams's paternal grandmother was named Emily Dickinson. Nope, not that Emily Dickinson. It's...

Steaminess Rating

This poor widow is all alone in the house, so there's no sex here, awesome readers.