Oral Commentary Outline EXAMPLE
Thesis: In “The Widow’s Lament in Springtime,” Williams contrasts a woman’s sadness over the loss of her husband with the beautiful new scenery of
springtime in order to communicate the full extent of the woman’s sorrow.
Category
Device/Technique
Example(s) from poem
Poet’s Purpose or Effect on Poem
Sense
-meaning
-language
Senses
-imagery
woman has lost her husband
(7-8, 15-19) and wants to die (25-28)
2. diction
repetition
“masses of flowers” repeated 2x
“flowers” repeated 4x (throughout poem)
1. springtime
imagery
-“yard/grass”
-“plumtree/flowers”
-“cherry tree branches/blossoms”
-“bushes”
-“meadows” (throughout poem)
-“color some bushes/yellow and some
red” (13-14)
-“the plumtree is white today” (9)
-“trees of white flowers” (24)
“Masses of flowers
load the cherry branches…
but the grief in my heart
is stronger than they” (11-16)
“Lament” (title)
“Sorrow is my own yard” (1)
“and fall into”, “and sink into” (27-28)
These images evoke spring time and help set up the contrast between the beautiful
scenery and the widow’s sorrow.
2. syntax
A long sentence with complicated syntax
(11-19)
The sentence is long and complex because it presents the essence of the poem and
describes the woman’s transition.
1. syllables per line
Most lines have 4-8 syllables;
3 syllables= “formerly, today I notice
them” (18)
9 syllables= “to go there” (26)
“Thirtyfive years/I lived with my
husband” (7-8 and throughout poem)
Line 18 has a different number of syllables to emphasize how the widow’s
perspective has changed from the past to today.
Line 26 has a different number of syllables to emphasize that the widow wants to
physically “go” to her death.
2. color-related
imagery
Style
1. juxtaposition
2. mood
Structure
Sound
Williams wants the reader to understand the extent of a widow’s inner sorrow, and
first person point of view is most effective for communicating her internal
monologue.
Williams repeats important words to emphasize the death and help the reader
understand that a funeral has occurred.
1. speaker/persona
first person p.o.v.
1. incremental
repetition
2. enjambment
The colors, yellow and red, fit with the springtime motif, but the color white is
presented opposite them to symbolize the widow’s surrender.
Williams juxtaposes negative feelings and positive images to emphasize the
sorrowful mood.
The title includes “lament” to show that the poem is an expression of the widow’s
sorrow. The poem opens with a line further developing the mournful mood.
The incremental repetition emphasizes the woman’s intentions and makes her
meaning unmistakable: she intends to kill herself.
The purpose of Williams’ extensive use of enjambment is to portray the widow’s
free-flowing expression, stream-of-consciousness thought, and fragmented ideas.
Conclusion: Based on the way Williams ends the poem, it is apparent that the widow believes her life is over, there will be no new beginning for her,
and she wishes for death.
Oral Commentary Outline
Thesis:
Category
Sense
-meaning
-language
Device/Technique
1.
2.
Senses
-imagery
1.
2.
Style
1.
2.
Structure
1.
2.
Sound
1.
2.
Conclusion:
Example(s) from poem
Poet’s Purpose or Effect on Poem