1. [n]  the passionate and demonstrative activity of expressing grief
2. [n]  state of sorrow over the death or departure of a loved one

Mourning
This memoir may help fill in the background for the vivid, often uncomfortable poems for which C. K. Williams is well-known. In this book, Williams recounts the excruciating tensions that kept him and his parents simultaneously locked together and pushed apart, and he comes to resolution about the ways his family shaped him and the gifts they gave him.

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1. \Mourn"ing\, n. [AS. murnung.]
   1. The act of sorrowing or expressing grief; lamentation;
      sorrow.
   2. Garb, drapery, or emblems indicative of grief, esp.
      clothing or a badge of somber black.
            The houses to their tops with black were spread, And
            ev'n the pavements were with mourning hid. --Dryden.
   {Deep mourning}. See under {Deep}.
   

2. \Mourn"ing\, a.
   1. Grieving; sorrowing; lamenting.
   2. Employed to express sorrow or grief; worn or used as
      appropriate to the condition of one bereaved or sorrowing;
      as, mourning garments; a mourning ring; a mourning pin,
      and the like.
   {Mourning bride} (Bot.), a garden flower ({Scabiosa
      atropurpurea}) with dark purple or crimson flowers in
      flattened heads.
   {Mourning dove} (Zo["o]l.), a wild dove ({Zenaidura
      macroura}) found throughout the United States; -- so named
      from its plaintive note. Called also {Carolina dove}. See
      Illust. under {Dove}.
   {Mourning warbler} (Zo["o]l.), an American ground warbler
      ({Geothlypis Philadelphia}). The male has the head, neck,
      and chest, deep ash-gray, mixed with black on the throat
      and chest; other lower parts are pure yellow.