China and the West

Williams, William Carlos. The widow's lament in springtime. In : Poetry ; January (1922).
Sorrow is my own yard
where the new grass flames as it has flamed
often before but not
with the cold fire
that closes round me this year.
Thirtyfive years
I lived with my husband.
The plumbree is white today
with masses of flowers.
Masses of flowers
load the cherry branches
and color some bushes
yellow and some red
but the grief in my heart
is stronger than they
for though they were my joy
formerly, today I notice them
and turned away forgetting.
Today my son told me
that in the meadows,
at the edge of the heavy woods
in the distance, he saw
trees of white flowers.
I feel that I would like
to go there
and fall into those flowers
and sink into the marsh near them.
Vincent Yang : The women's lament in springtime was always a favorite theme of classical Chinese poets, and the home was the ideal setting for such poems. In choosing his subject, Williams not only employs a popular theme in Chinese poetry but also uses some traditional images in the literary heritage of Chinese poetry. Typical of most Chinese poets, Williams also employs the technique of interweaving natural scenery with human events and emotions throughout his poem. In keeping with Chinese poetic tradition, he also uses cherry blossoms to signify the widow's declining beauty in his poem.