Describe the speaker in Millay's poem "Lament".

The speaker in "Lament" is matter of fact in stating to
the children that "your father is dead...life must go on." Contrary to the title of this
poem, there is no lamenting on the part of the speaker. Without missing a beat, the
speaker is taking the clothing belonging to the deceased father and turning it into
"little jackets" and "little trousers" for the his children. While there is something to
be admired in the strength of the speaker who speaks of death as if is an everyday,
usual occurrence, there is something disturbing in the speaker's unsympathetic tone of
voice. On the other hand, the reader could sense that the speaker is forcing a sense of
acceptance in the face of death. Again, why is the poem entitled "Lament" when the
speaker is far from lamenting in tone of voice?

The irony
in the title "Lament" is that the speaker has a "get-over-it" and "life-must-go-on"
attitude in reference to the dead father. It is as if the speaker is trying to be
detached from the dead father too immediately. There is no time for grieving. There is
no reason to remember the deceased father. The speaker's attitude is too deliberate in
the immediate forgetting of a possibily cherished loved one. This could be a facade on
the part of the speaker or a play on satire. The fact that the poem is entitled "Lament"
is a clue to the reader that the speaker does have something or someone worthy to
lament. The speaker's decision to abruptly forget the dead father is perhaps the
speaker's best way deal with the pain of a loss that is too unbearable to express. There
is evidence of this analysis when the speaker states that "good men die" to only be
forgotten for "life must go on," and "I forget just why" is the speaker's satirical
response to the fact that death is believed by society to be a "normal" part of life.