First, having a name like William Williams is either a sign of uniqueness, cruelty, or a mixture of both in his parents. A major theme of the poem is definitely the poignancy of springtime for the widow. As shown in the previous poem, "Spring," this season is usually a sign of happiness and rebirth, this can even be seen in the musical The Producers in the song "Springtime for Hitler" which recounts in Broadway fashion the joy of Hitler conquering Europe (If unfamiliar with this musical, I suggest introducing yourself.). So with the universality of equating spring and happiness, the poignancy comes when the widow no longer sees the beauty in it due to her great pain of losing her husband. She recounts many times the "masses of flowers" around her yet feeling nothing. Even the "new grass flame[d]" in previous years but now she is consumed by an oxymoronic "cold fire" of longing for her husband. Feeling all this super-duper sadness, though, she does want to leave her yard of sorrow ("Sorrow is my own yard....") to the meadow her son suggests. The son seems to be wanting her to move on ("Go look at those flowers for a while!"), yet the widow wants to "sink into the marsh near them" as a kind of way of dying to be with her long lost hubby.
How could you not like this? It's beautiful!
