Spring Storm

One of the underlying themes of “Spring Storm” is the revivification of spring and the natural human tendency to hope for change. Because of the reference to spring in the poem’s title, the reader begins the poem looking forward to spring; as a season, nature promises new life, growth, and a return to warmth at the end of winter, but Williams unexpectedly undermines that expectation by setting his “spring storm” in the throes of late winter instead: “the snow keeps / its hold on the ground” (Lines 7-8) despite the “water, water / from a thousand runnels!” (Lines 9-10) that “cuts a way for itself / through green ice in the gutters” (Lines 13-14). Even so, there are a few key moments within the poem that indicate a certain sense of inevitability. Despite the snow’s stubborn “hold on the ground” (Line 8), the water is moving, cutting slowly but surely “through green ice” (Line 14). The sheer force of change that is the turning of the seasons enacts its will upon the world, whether the speaker can see or understand nature’s influence. The focus on the coming spring, despite all evidence to the contrary, speaks to hope in the face of darkness and faith during times of hardship.