William Carlos William: "The Widow's Lament in Springtime" - Discuss

Question 1

note

Answer 1

• Williams uses imagery and tone to show the contrast between the beauty of springtime and the widow’s sorrow over losing her husband

Question 2

in William Carlos William’s poem “The Widow’s Lament in Springtime,” Williams contrasts the image of flowers which he uses over and over in the body of the poem with _______ at the end

Answer 2

the marsh

Question 3

in William Carlos William’s poem “The Widow’s Lament in Springtime,” the widow gives an idea of how heavy the grief in her heart is by comparing it to

Answer 3

“masses” of flowers that “load” the branches

Question 4

in William Carlos William’s poem “The Widow’s Lament in Springtime,” the lines “Thirty-five years I lived with my husband” (lines 7-8) abruptly break into the poem

Answer 4

like the widow’s awareness of her husband’s death keeps breaking the normal routine of her life

Question 5

three times in William Carlos William’s poem “The Widow’s Lament in Springtime,” the widow says “today” – indicating

Answer 5

the widow’s focus on her woes “today” and her forgetting of her former “joy”

Question 6

in his poem “The Widow’s Lament in Springtime,” Williams’ uses the contrasting images of falling into those flowers and sinking into the marsh near them to contrast

Answer 6

the beauty and life of the flowers with the desolation and death of the marsh