Widowed by Peter Skrzynecki
Hardly a day passes
That she doesn’t work
In her garden – pruning and weeding
On bended knees,
Watching the dance of bees
In clumps of lantana
Overgrowing her paths.
She pauses longest
Among the roses – fingering petals and buds
As if they were the hem
Of a wedding or christening dress –
Shyly, almost reluctant.
Again and again
She returns to a hedge
Or vine – stands
As though waiting
For something to happen.
Kneeling on leaves
She won’t burn, On decayed rain
That has turned to moss,
She tends to violets and marigolds –
Her dress gathered about her
Like a garment of ceremony:
Her face overshadowed
By a hat which summer can’t pierce,
Her future entangled
Among thorns and evergreens.
That she doesn’t work
In her garden – pruning and weeding
On bended knees,
Watching the dance of bees
In clumps of lantana
Overgrowing her paths.
She pauses longest
Among the roses – fingering petals and buds
As if they were the hem
Of a wedding or christening dress –
Shyly, almost reluctant.
Again and again
She returns to a hedge
Or vine – stands
As though waiting
For something to happen.
Kneeling on leaves
She won’t burn, On decayed rain
That has turned to moss,
She tends to violets and marigolds –
Her dress gathered about her
Like a garment of ceremony:
Her face overshadowed
By a hat which summer can’t pierce,
Her future entangled
Among thorns and evergreens.
Widowed: An Analysis
'Widowed,' is composed by Peter Skrzynecki and it is a free form poem which means it has no regular rhyme or meter. Despite that, there is some semblance of a rhythm which conveys a sense of a bittersweet peacefulness. The poem lends itself a certain elegance through its lack of rhythm.
The poem is a mournful one about a woman whose husband has died and neither her age nor the time of her husband's untimely demise is mentioned therefore leaving it up to the reader to make up a story for her. We do however, know that they mostly likely never had a child and that it is through gardening in which the memories and destroyed hopes of her married life are brought about.
The overall tone of the poem is that of a melancholic feel but accepting and also romantic at the same time. It's romantic simply because you can see or feel the love she had for her husband and how she never truly got over him. At the same time it is accepting because she knows he's never going to comeback so she still lives life all while loving her dead husband and allows us to feel empathy for us. The message of the story would be that love never really dies despite one half dying. You just have to move on while still loving your other half. Life still goes on no matter what and we still have to move on even if we don't want to because then we lose sight of ourselves too caught up in mourning over lost ones.
There are quite a few poetic techniques such as personification, rhymes and symbolism. The symbolism is especially important because of what they convey. 'Fingering petals and buds. As if they were the hem, of a wedding or christening dress,' represents the fact that she possibly didn't have children with her husband and it is something that she regrets. Now she will never have the chance to hold her baby in a christening gown or watch her child in a wedding dress.
There are only a few rhymes in the poem and 'On bended knees, Watching the dance of bees,' is the most prominent rhyme which helps hone in on the difference between their circumstances. Bees symbolise fertility and also the dance of bees represent joy, after all dance represents joy. The fertility aspect is important because it shows that she never had children and now how sad she is on what she will never have. It provides contrast between her and how she hasn't moved on and the world around her which has.
Using the rhyme in 'Widowed,' helps give the poem a sense of rhythm however it hasn't constantly been repeated because in my opinion, rhymes cheapen a poem. We consider rhymes to be funny or used in a very relaxed sense, they're not serious. Using them all the time in such a tragic poem makes it seem more like a joke because it's almost as if you're making fun of her sorrow. She's in pain and to use rhymes to express that would be like turning her sorrow into a joke whereas description and symbolism gives the poem an air of solemness.
The poem is a mournful one about a woman whose husband has died and neither her age nor the time of her husband's untimely demise is mentioned therefore leaving it up to the reader to make up a story for her. We do however, know that they mostly likely never had a child and that it is through gardening in which the memories and destroyed hopes of her married life are brought about.
The overall tone of the poem is that of a melancholic feel but accepting and also romantic at the same time. It's romantic simply because you can see or feel the love she had for her husband and how she never truly got over him. At the same time it is accepting because she knows he's never going to comeback so she still lives life all while loving her dead husband and allows us to feel empathy for us. The message of the story would be that love never really dies despite one half dying. You just have to move on while still loving your other half. Life still goes on no matter what and we still have to move on even if we don't want to because then we lose sight of ourselves too caught up in mourning over lost ones.
There are quite a few poetic techniques such as personification, rhymes and symbolism. The symbolism is especially important because of what they convey. 'Fingering petals and buds. As if they were the hem, of a wedding or christening dress,' represents the fact that she possibly didn't have children with her husband and it is something that she regrets. Now she will never have the chance to hold her baby in a christening gown or watch her child in a wedding dress.
There are only a few rhymes in the poem and 'On bended knees, Watching the dance of bees,' is the most prominent rhyme which helps hone in on the difference between their circumstances. Bees symbolise fertility and also the dance of bees represent joy, after all dance represents joy. The fertility aspect is important because it shows that she never had children and now how sad she is on what she will never have. It provides contrast between her and how she hasn't moved on and the world around her which has.
Using the rhyme in 'Widowed,' helps give the poem a sense of rhythm however it hasn't constantly been repeated because in my opinion, rhymes cheapen a poem. We consider rhymes to be funny or used in a very relaxed sense, they're not serious. Using them all the time in such a tragic poem makes it seem more like a joke because it's almost as if you're making fun of her sorrow. She's in pain and to use rhymes to express that would be like turning her sorrow into a joke whereas description and symbolism gives the poem an air of solemness.