Lucy Gray by William Wordsworth
Table of Contents
Lucy Gray is one of the finest literary ballads written by William Wordsworth in blank verses. Below is the original text and a detailed summary of the poem.
Summary and Development of Thought in the Poem
The poem Lucy Gray was written by William Wordsworth based upon a real account of the death of a little girl narrated to him by his sister Dorothy. In the poem, the poet portrays imagery of a little solitary girl who lived in a house in the valley with her father and mother. As she did not have any friends, her most of time was spent in playing alone or helping her parents. Wordsworth further progress by adding that one can get a chance to see a fawn or a rabbit while passing through those valleys (which are usually hard to trace) but you will never be able to see the innocent face of Lucy Gray.
Now Wordsworth takes us back to the sad incident. It was an afternoon and Lucy was at home with her father. Her mother had gone to the town. Her father took his hook and started to pile the bundle and instructed Lucy to take the lantern and bring her mother safe before evening because they were anticipation storm. She left for the town but against the expected time, the storm arose earlier, and Lucy lost the way. She searched for the way back home but could never find it. Her mother came back home. Worried her parents explored the entire valley the whole night to catch sight of Lucy but she was nowhere found.
At the break of the day, her parents found patterns of Lucy’s small feet in the snow. They started following those footprints which led them to bridge of the wood which was only a furlong far from their house and after that prints disappeared. It was an indication that Lucy had died. Her parents lament for her. The dearest child of nature was gone. But it is still in belief that Lucy is alive and sings her solitary song in the valley.
Noticeable in this poem is that Wordsworth has not stressed the death of Lucy but after her death her fusion with nature. He has tried to associate boundaries of birth and death with this beautiful and calamitous ballad. Wordsworth as a poet of nature, in this poem, has associated the action of death with nature. After the death of Lucy also it is believed that she is alive and her song whistles in the air in the valley as if she has become part of nature. Beautiful imagery and similes are quite seen as the very flair of William Wordsworth.
Comments and Critical Appreciation of the Poem
Lucy Gray was written by Sir William Wordsworth in 1799 and published in the second edition of ‘Lyrical Ballad’, a collection of poems by William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge in 1800. The poem states the story of a little girl named Lucy Gray who died early on a stormy night in the countryside. She lived somewhere in the western countryside with her parents. The clue of living in the Western Countryside is given in the lines, The minster-clock has just struck two, /And yonder is the moon!" the moon is visible during daytime there. She had a small family and no friends. As a solitary child, she had no mate or someone to talk to, play or share.
Poem Lucy Gray starts with a reference to a popular story of Lucy Gray. Wordsworth has represented Lucy as a child of nature. We can notice in the poem Lucy perhaps, is often used to help her parents in small house works because when her mother goes out of town, her father sends her to fetch her mother. But when the storm comes before the expected time, Lucy lost her way keeps searching for the right path and mysteriously dies. The death of an innocent lonely child hits the reader deeply and leaves an impact of sorrow. At the end of the poem, the poet takes the help of supernatural theory to keep Lucy alive in the heart. People still believe that Lucy is not dead and her spirit roams and sings songs which whistle in the air. This supernatural theme indicates how strongly Lucy was attached to her town and singing her solitary song implies how lonely she was. The tragic end of the poem leaves an everlasting impact on the readers.
The ballad is written lyrically. A scenic view stands in front of the eyes while reading the poem and imagery is widely used but nowhere seems to be in the excess. The unfortunate death of the little girl at the end of the poem and then keeping her alive in the hearts with the help of supernatural elements is the very own style of Wordsworth.
Lucy Gray (Summary)
Lucy Gray was a beautiful little girl. She had no friends to play with and lived in Wild Moor with her parents. One day her mother went to the town for shopping. In the evening her father told her to go to the town to bring her mother back. He also told her to take a lantern with her o light her mother’s way through the snowstorm.
Lucy Gray at once obeyed his order and set out for town. When she was on the way the storm had come before it was expected. Lucy could not see her way due to the snow. She wandered here and there and at last died in the snow.
Her parents searched for her all night but all in vain. At last, they found footprints in the middle of a wooden bridge. Perhaps she slipped through it and died. Some people think that she is still alive and has become a part of nature. She sings a solitary song that whistles in the wind.
LUCY GRAY
REFERENCE:
These lines have been taken from the poem Lucy Gray written by William Wordsworth.
CONTEXT
In this poem, the poet has described the tragic death of Lucy Gray. She was an innocent child. She lived in a wild moor with her parents. She had no friends. Her father told her to go to the town and bring her mother home. She took the lantern and went to the town. But she was caught up in a storm and was buried in the snow. Though she is dead, some people believe that she is still living and walks over the hills and plains.
STANZA NO. 1
Oft I had heard of Lucy Gray:
And, when I crossed the wild,
I chanced to see at break of day
The solitary child.
In this stanza, the poet says that he had often heard of Lucy Gray and wanted to see the beautiful girl. One day the poet saw the girl early in the morning. She was an innocent and pure child. She lived with her parents on a wild moor. The poet liked the beautiful girl.
STANZA NO. 2
No mate, no comrade Lucy knew;
She dwelt on a wide moor,
The sweetest thing that ever grew
Beside a human door!
In these lines, the poet says that Lucy lived all alone. She had no friends. She lived in wild fields. Lucy was the child of nature. Nature was her friend. She was so beautiful that no child like her was born in the house of a man. She was very lovely and beautiful.
STANZA NO. 3
You yet may spy the Fawn at play,
The Hare upon the Green;
But the sweet face of Lucy Gray
Will never more be seen?
In these lines, the poet is describing his sad feelings over the untimely death of Lucy. The wild field is still there where the deer play happily. The hare is also seen jumping over the green grass, but Lucy is no more present there. Lucy is absent because she has died in the snowstorm. The same deer and hare are still playing but the sweet and beautiful face of Lucy has disappeared.
STANZA NO. 4+ 5:
“To-night will be a stormy night,
You to the Town must go,
And take a lantern, Child,
to light Your Mother thro’ the snow.”
“That, Father! will I gladly do;
’Tis scarcely afternoon
The Minster-clock has just struck two,
And yonder is the Moon.”
In this stanza, the poet is describing how Lucy's father asked her to go to the town and bring her mother back home. Lucy's father hoped that the night would be stormy, therefore he advised her to take a lantern with her to guide her mother through the snow. Lucy told her father that it was still midday and it was not very late. She said that the clock of the church had struck only two and the moon could be seen in the sky. She assured her father that she would go to the town and help her mother come back home.
STANZA NO. 6:
At this, the Father raised his hook
And snapped a faggot-band;
He plied his work;
and Lucy took The lantern in her hand.
In this stanza, the poet says that after Lucy's father had asked Lucy to go to the town to bring her mother back home, he became busy with his work. He raised his hook and cut a bundle of sticks. He knew that Lucy was an obedient girl and she would go to the town. Lucy took the lantern in her hand and went away to help her mother come back home from the town.
STANZA NO. 7:
Not blither is the mountain roe,
With many a wanton stroke
Her feet disperse the powd’ry snow
That rises up like smoke.
n these lines the poet tells us how Lucy went with a lantern in her hand to help her mother come back home from a nearby town. She was jumping over the snow. The poet compares Lucy to mountains happily. Lucy was in a playful mood. She was dispersing the powdery snow with her feet, which were rising like smoke. The poet is describing the innocent character of Lucy.
STANZA NO. 8
The storm came on before its time,
She wandered up and down,
And many a hill did Lucy climb
But never reached the Town.
In these lines, the poet is describing how Lucy lost her way in the hills when the snowstorm came. Unfortunately, the storm came before time and Lucy lost her way. She walked over the hills and on the fields, but could not find her way to go back home. Lucy wandered into the hills and died in the snow.
STANZA NO. 9+ 10
The wretched Parents all that night
Went shouting far and wide;
But there was neither sound nor sight
To serve them as a guide.
At day-break on a hill they stood
That overlooked the Moor;
And thence they saw the bridge of wood
A furlong from their door
In these lines, the poet tells us that when Lucy did not return home, the parents went into the hills in search of their daughter and shouted for Lucy, but they did not find any trace of the girl. There was neither sight nor sound of Lucy. Their condition was very pitiable. Early in the morning, they climbed the hill from where they could look at the wild moor. From above they saw a wooden bridge at a short distance from the door of their house. They walked to the bridge to find some trace of Lucy Gray.
STANZA NO. 11+ 12
And now they homeward turned,
and cried “In Heaven we all shall meet!”
When in the snow the Mother spied
The print of Lucy’s feet.
Then downward from the steep hill’s edge
They tracked the footmarks small;
And through the broken hawthom-hedge,
And by the long stone-wall;
In the morning when Lucy's mother saw Lucy's footprints in the snow, she cried and said that they would meet their child in Heaven, as there was no hope left for them to meet the girl in this world. Following the footprints of Lucy, they climbed down the hill. They did not miss even a single mark. They passed through the broken hawthorn hedge and by the long stone wall until they reached an open field.
STANZA NO. 13
And then an open field they crossed,
The marks were still the same;
They tracked them on, nor ever lost,
And to the Bridge they came.
Following the footprints of Lucy, her parents came to an open field. They could see footprints of Lucy clearly. They reached a wooden bridge. (P.T.O)
STANZA NO. 14
They followed from the snowy bank
Those footmarks, one by one,
Into the middle of the plank;
And further there were none!
In these lines, the poet is describing that Lucy's parents went on following the footmarks along the snowy bank of the stream until they came to the wooden bridge. The bank of the stream was covered with snow and Lucy's prints were clearly visible there. They went on following until they reached the middle of the wooden bridge on the stream. From this spot onward, the footprints could not be seen further.
STANZA NO. 15 + 16
Yet some maintain that to this day
She is a living Child,
That you may see sweet Lucy Gray
Upon the lonesome Wild.
O’er rough and smooth she trips along,
And never looks behind;
And sings a solitary song
That whistles in the wind.
In these lines the poet is describing the tragic death Lucy is no more living in the world, yet there are some people who do not believe that she has died. They think that Lucy is alive because they have often seen her walking and singing in the wild fields. She sings a song and never looks behind. The people also believe that the sweet song of Lucy Gray can be heard when the wind is blowing. The poet means to say that Lucy has become a part of nature after her death.
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