"The Widow's Lament in Springtime" by William Carlos Williams

While reading "The Widow's Lament in Springtime," I felt that the speakers tone was one of sorrow and grief. This tone is first established in the title, when the speaker gives the reader an important piece of information; she is a widow. It is reinforced multiple times beginning with the first line when she speaks of "sorrow in (her) own yard" (line 1). She also incorporates words such as "grief" and "sink into the marsh" (lines 15 &28). Her choices of words are all extremely bland with no sense of happiness or relief.

In the beginning of the poem, the speaker addresses her yard which can be seen as her memories with her deceased husband. When she looks at her yard in springtime, it brings her sorrow. The "grief in (her) heart" is stronger than the memories she has of her husband. The speaker seems rather distressed and by the end of the poem, when she states that she wants to "sink into the marsh," (line 28) it seems that the speaker wants to fall into the ground to be with her husband. It seems that the speaker is not able to move on from her past, so her grief is the only thing that seems real to her.