To a Friend
To a Friend - meaning Summary
Social Judgment and Irony
The poem observes a young woman, Lizzie Anderson, pregnant and without an evident father, and treats her situation with sharp irony. Williams highlights community and institutional responses—religion and law—as inadequate or performative. The speaker questions what divine or legal authority can do, suggesting moralizing phrases replace real solutions. The tone mixes gossip, satire, and moral unease to critique social hypocrisy toward vulnerable individuals.
Read Complete AnalysesWell, Lizzie Anderson! seventeen men--and the baby hard to find a father for! What will the good Father in Heaven say to the local judge if he do not solve this problem? A little two-pointed smile and--pouff!-- the law is changed into a mouthful of phrases.
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