Stanza 1

In "Ordinary Words," Ruth Stone opens with a poignant moment where the speaker recounts calling someone a name. Many interpret this speaker as a reflection of Stone herself, and the recipient of her words as her late husband, Walter Stone. Here, the use of the word "whatever" downplays the specific insult, highlighting instead the mere act of doing so. She reflects on how the name-calling no longer matters now that her husband has passed, illustrated metaphorically as his clothes transforming into "a bundle of rags." The phrase "I paid with my life for that" unveils her enduring remorse, a ghostly regret lingering beyond his passing.

The stanza pivots sharply in its eighth line, with the speaker disillusioned by the realities of marriage that fell short of her dreams. "Dull dregs" conjures images of remnants left behind, and in the closing lines, Stone powerfully shifts "lackluster" from an adjective to a noun, encapsulating the unfulfilled aspects of their intimate life.

Stanza 2

In the second stanza, Stone veers from the preceding narrative, painting two disparate images: melodies from an ancient reed and a solitary bird. She weaves them together using a simile, a literary tool that bridges unlike concepts with "like" or "as." The music from an age-old flute resonates with the bird's remembrance of sorrow, though the speaker places it in "the mountains," a place she has never ventured. Yet, by imagining the bird, she forges a connection, hinting at a shared blindness. Her emotional perception remains unclear and clouded.