“The Widow’s Lament in Springtime,” by William Carlos Williams is deep in its simplicity. The irony here is that while spring is traditionally symbolic of life, birth, and new beginning, the widow cannot accept it as such since she is mourning the loss of her husband of 35 years. Everything that used to bright and shining and welcomed is now tarnished by her grief as she can no longer view them as she once had. Her son who is more than likely trying to cheer her by mentioning that he saw, “at the edge of the heavy woods/in the distance, he saw/trees of white flowers,” only reminds her of her loss. So the rebirth of spring only reminds her of the death she has suffered-her husbands and the one she longs for-hers.
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