Three Years She Grew in Sun and Shower

By William Wordsworth | Summary and Analysis

Table of Contents

William Wordsworth's poem 

Three Years She Grew in Sun and Shower, is a lyrical elegy on the untimely demise of Lucy. This poem is also known as 'The Education of Nature', and is considered one of the Lucy poems. Lucy's poems are written about an ideal female who is sometimes symbolized as nature, for whom the speaker feels great affection. It was written in the year of 1798 in collaboration with S.T. Coleridge and was published in 1800 in the Lyrical Ballads anthology.

In this poem Wordsworth personified Nature. He points out the education of nature, and the great influence nature can exercise on human life. Nature has the power to impart education better than all the sages can. The experiment of nature's education must be tried on Lucy by Nature itself. Nature thinks that she is the most beautiful thing on earth. Nature takes her to make her a lady of her own. So, Lucy lived in close communion with the objects of nature, the rocks, the earth, the glades, the heaven, the mountains, the clouds, the trees and the storms. But, before she could be a perfect woman, she was snatched away by the cruel hands of death.

The personified nature speaks of Lucy in the first stanza. Nature says, 'A lovelier flower on earth was never sown' than Lucy, and decides to take the child and make her 'A Lady of my own'. In the second stanza, this idea is elaborated. Nature will be with the child both 'law and impulse' and have the power to 'kindle or restrain'. The use of words like 'rock', 'plain', 'earth', 'glade', and 'bower' all serve to emphasize Lucy's closeness to nature.

The third stanza emphasizes her vital, spontaneous energy and her equally spontaneous calm and peace. She will have closeness to all nature, ‘The floating clouds their state shall lend to her ' - and will respond to all the natural beauty around her, as stanza five makes clear: 'The stars of midnight shall be dear/To her.’   She will be filled by 'vital' feelings as she grows.

The final stanza is a contrast and shows, poignantly, the feelings of the lover on Lucy's death or total merging with nature. But the lover accepts the cyclical pattern of things; he is left with ‘This heath, this calm and quiet scene' and the memory of Lucy.

The short poem profoundly teaches us the universal truth of the nature of life, that is, we are from nature, we sustain by nature, we must return to nature and there is no loss of human life after death. It is a loss only to the living. This big but bitter truth must be accepted. Nature is personified in this poem. Lucy is not only a person but also the representative of all organic living beings. Lucy was to be educated by nature as nature dreamt of making her the perfect lady. The poet believes that if a child is given the freedom to play in the lap of nature, he or she will be a better person in life.

'Three Years She Grew in Sun and Shower' is about the poet’s love to a pure young girl and the loss of the beloved one, as his beloved (Lucy) belongs to nature, her return to nature is her death. The separation made by death, though painful to the living one, it is rewarding to the dead one as he or she returns to where he/she really belongs to. The poem is narrated by nature herself and compares Lucy to a beautiful flower. She claims the flower and wants to make her mature lady of nature upon whom she showers her greatest benefits of grace and beauty. Nature reveals the method of the process of the complex unity of living being while making her an almost perfect lady. In the poem, the process is one of opposing polarities, of a dialectic from which the living complexity arises:

My self will to my darling be 

Both law and impulse and with me 

The Girl, in Rock and Plain,

In earth and heaven, in glade and bower, 

Shall feel an overseeing power 

To kindle or restrain.

The whole passage shows a pattern of antitheses, between 'law and impulse', 'rock and plain', 'earth and heaven', 'glade and bower' and 'kindle' and 'restrain'. These opposing principles are the base of our life. Wordsworth articulates his sense of curiosity at the complex interrelationships between the permanent and fluctuating laws of nature, and the magical intricacies which they produce, not only the dancing rivulets but also such phenomena as beautiful young women. Lucy is not passively moulded by nature, but she is given all the necessary thoughts of growth.

The reversal of expectations of nature and the sudden death of Lucy gives a heartbreaking ending to the poem. A beautiful and exciting life has its predictable result: death. This is not only a lament over the death of Lucy but a truth of the condition of all human life. Though all the powers of nature combine in complex ways to create a human being, finally it is doomed by nature's law to death. The last line is silent, which brings a rare clarity of perception where the lover without making any complaint states that there is nothing more than a memory.

This poem easily delivers a universal truth about human life, a very common truth of death that we live with since our birth but, yet we fail to recognize.

This poem can be interpreted as the celebration of the marriage of nature and Lucy at the end. When their physical body Lucy died, she merges with nature. Her worldly lover, the poet or the speaker, laments the death and mourns knowing that she will never be back. She will be with nature forever and ever. So, in this sense, this poem is elegiac for the human lover and epithalamic (a song sung in marriage) for nature as she is united with Lucy for a lifelong. Nature is given an interesting role here. At first, she seems beautiful and giving but, after a while, she dictates the human conditions and takes back Lucy.

This poem has seven stanzas, each containing six lines having an aabccb rhyme scheme. In these short poems, the language is simple, yet intense and moving. The most striking fact is that the speaker in the poem does not speak until the final stanza. Only at the end of the poetry, does the speaker let us know why he is writing the poem and what happened to Lucy. Most of the lines are difficult to interpret and the language is ambiguous. In some lines the diction is simple, but the ideas are difficult to cater.

Wordsworth's Poetical Works Summary and Analysis of Three years she grew

The poem begins with the personified Nature noticing Lucy at three years old. Nature thinks she is the most beautiful thing on earth, and promises to take her to make A Lady of [her] own:

For three years she grew up in the sun and shower,

Then Nature said, "A lovelier flower

On earth was never sown;

This Child I to myself will take;

She shall be mine, and I will make

A Lady of my own.

Nature then expounds on what it means to be Nature's lady for several stanzas. Nature promises to make Lucy a part of nature itself. She will be a part of the rocks, the earth, the heaven, the glades, the mountain springs, the clouds, the trees, and the storms. In addition, Lucy will fully enjoy nature and understand it. It will be as if they are in constant communication:

Myself will to my darling be

Both law and impulse: and with me

The Girl, in Rock and plain,

In earth and heaven, in glade and bower,

Shall feel an overseeing power

To kindle or restrain.

She shall be sportive as the fawn

That wild with glee across the lawn,

Or up the mountain springs;

And her's shall be the breathing balm,

And her's the silence and the calm

Of mute insensate things.

The floating clouds their state shall lend

To her; for her the willow bend;

Nor shall she fail to see

Even in the motions of the Storm

Grace that shall mould the Maiden's form

By silent sympathy.

The stars of midnight shall be dear

To her; and she shall lean her ear

In many a secret place

Where rivulets dance their wayward round,

And beauty born of murmuring sound

Shall pass into her face.

And vital feelings of delight

Shall rear her form to stately height,

Her virgin bosom swell;

Such thoughts to Lucy I will give

While she and I together live

Here in this happy dell.

In the last stanza, Nature declares that her work is done: she has fulfilled her promise to Lucy, letting her grow into a mature woman (as promised in the sixth stanza). The speaker declares, "How soon my Lucy's race was run!" When she dies, she leaves the speaker a calm scene to enjoy along with the beautiful memory of her:

Thus Nature spake The work was done

How soon my Lucy's race was run!

She died and left to me

This heath, this calm, and quiet scene;

The memory of what has been,

And never more will be.

Analysis

"Three years she grew" is made up of seven six-line stanzas that each have an aabccb rhyme scheme. This poem is one of a set usually called the "Lucy Poems." The identity of Lucy has never been discovered.

Nature takes on an interesting role in this poem--she is beautiful and giving, and yet ultimately dictates the circumstances of Lucy's death. The poem becomes a beautiful elegy written to a woman who has died and who Wordsworth admired not only for her beauty but also for her connection to nature, which Wordsworth felt was the highest possible achievement.

Also worthy of note is the fact that the speaker does not speak until the final stanza. For the first six stanzas, he simply describes the declarations and promises of Nature. It is only in the end that the reader finally learns what happened to Lucy (she died as soon as she reached maturity) and why the speaker is writing the poem (out of grief).

Summary and Analysis of Three Years She Grew in Sun and Shower

In this poem, the poet takes up Nature as the greatest teacher possible. Lucy has grown amidst the beauty of Nature for three years when it was decided that Nature would take up the responsibility of her education. She seems to be the most beautiful entity on earth and Nature proclaims that Lucy will be the finest flower that will eventually bloom and blossom into a Lady. Lucy will be created in the image of Nature and her well-being will be of immediate attention to Nature.

Three Years She Grew in Sun and Shower Summary

Nature then goes on to explain and expound how she will bring up Lucy. Nature will teach her to act in impulse and will also enunciate that impulse must sometimes be regulated with proper convictions called the law. With Nature, Lucy will take a trip through rocks and plains, learning how to adapt to different situations in life. Through earth and heaven, forest and garden, Nature would accompany Lucy where she would feel the governing laws of nature. She would thereby gain the power of inspiration and self-control to govern her life and that would mould Lucy into a perfect being.

The third stanza elaborates on her vital, overflowing energy and her equally spontaneous calm and tranquillity. Lucy will be as frolicsome as a deer with wild glee and untamed joy. She would possess the vital strength and energy to climb mountains or go upstream a river, and from the frantic merriment, she would eventually learn the lessons of life. In contrast to the playfulness, Lucy will also learn the significance of quietude, and she will come to possess the knowledge that eventually soothes souls. She will embrace the glory of silence and seclusion and calmness of being which would add up to her prosperous nature.

The fluffy clouds will lend themselves as her pillow, and in their softness, she would solace. Even a willow will bend to embrace a girl like Lucy and she will eventually learn the virtue of modesty. She will be perfected into a humane form and in moments of turmoil or a storm, Lucy will be filled and fulfilled with politeness, decency, propriety, poise, and charm. She will become the epitome of well-being and will be overflowing with sympathy and empathy bestowed with the ability to consider the human condition. She will learn to be graceful both in the face of storm and silence.

The stars will be her guide and be endearing to Lucy. Lucy will have the privilege to peep into the secrets of Nature that are left hidden. She will gather the grace of movement and stillness from the dancing stream of water. The beauty of sound generated by the rapidity of passing water would mould into the beauty of Lucy’s face. She shall bear Nature on her face. The beauty will be born with a soft murmuring sound that would beautify her and make her face adorable.

The vital invigorating and lovely feelings would be Lucy’s constant company that will mold her with grace and devotion till she attains lofty spiritual heights. She will be an incarnation of an ideal state in relation to mind and body. The docile girl will grow eventually to attain womanhood. Her virgin body will attain a state of physical and spiritual enlightenment. She will be ripe with nature’s bounty having the prospect to procreate. Nature will be her sole proprietor and vows to impregnate her with thoughts divine, till they live together in the blissful lush green valleys and wooded valleys. Nature would nurture Lucy’s thoughts to maturity.

In the last stanza, Nature declares that her work is done, and she has executed her promise as Lucy has grown to become an idolatress, no longer needed on earth. The poet now intervenes and states that Lucy has grown to become Nature and thus has died. She has left the poet to experience a vacancy of emotions and memories to rejoice upon. The poet mournfully states that her death has left a barren land, a calm and quiet scene of vacuity. The poem ends with a declaration that Lucy is lost forever, leaving behind a trail of memories.

Three Years She Grew in Sun and Shower Analysis

Three years she grew in sun and Shower is a poem composed in 1798 by the English poet William Wordsworth, and first published in the Lyrical Ballads anthology. It deals with the notion that Nature is the greatest friend, philosopher, and guide. With the appreciation of Nature, one is bestowed with the bounty that Nature contains.

The poem is composed of seven six-line stanzas each having an ‘aabccb’ rhyme scheme. This poem is included in the ‘Lucy series’ where the identity of Lucy is dubious and indefinable. She seems as elusive as Nature itself. Nature is the womb of motherhood and the phallus that leads to both creation and destruction of mankind, and from this womb, a Lucy must be born and here she must die. With her death, the poem becomes an elegy where 

Wordsworth mourns the departure of a beloved from earthly bounds.

The poet is in both awe and admiration for the exceedingly beautiful Lucy whose well-being has been constructed by the virtues of Nature. Wordsworth was a believer in pantheism, a doctrine which identifies God with the universe or regards the universe as a manifestation of God.  And here, Nature is equated with God and Lucy is bred in the image of God- the highest possible state of satiation or spiritual transcendence one can achieve.

Lucy had the freedom to flourish for three years until she was taken up by Nature to prune her into a well-bred woman. It seems Lucy’s radiating beauty had surpassed earthly binaries and therefore Nature decided to mold her into an image of perfection where beauty and truth meet. Lucy seems to have been initially separated from Nature and to get reunited she must die in Nature and we question the very earthly existence of her character. It is plausible that Lucy is growing in her death in a state of transcendence. Death is not an end but a culmination.

The poem progresses through antithetical ideas, paradoxically bringing into harmony the polarities in the school of Nature. Proclaiming that Lucy will eventually grow to become a deity, Nature enunciates that she will be trained by both “law and impulse”. It is the primeval impulse of instincts that often resurfaces in man and it needs to be tamed by the sobriety of the intellect. The inherent impulse needs to get channelled through the laws of society to achieve harmony, however dubious it might be. Nature proclaims herself to be the breeding ground of perfect behaviour that will eventually mold Lucy into a being more than human. She would eventually get the benefit of venturing into and exploring both the “rock and plain”, she will as if have access to the dome of the universe where reaching the horizon will no more be a distant goal. Lucy will have the knowledge of the “earth and heaven” of Purgatory and Paradiso to contemplate the dichotomies contained in man. She will be both wild and tame, in glade and bower. She will be the site where the Forest of Experience and Garden of Innocence meets. And at the end, she will learn “kindle and restrain”, the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings to be held hostage by notions of reality.

The poem is constructed in the tradition of epithalamia where Lucy is wedded to Nature, and the prospect of birth resides in her ascendancy. The fruition of fertility is undercut by elegiac overtones where the earthbound poet is bound to mourn the loss of a human lover.  The relationship between the physical and the metaphysical is highlighted using contradictory ideas. The earth-bound can only have an approximation of the beauty which is indistinguishable from truth.\

Lucy’s journey with Nature and amidst Nature is a Pilgrim’s Progress of the soul from the darkness of ignorance to the light of knowledge. She is blessed with the ability to penetrate deeper into the laws of nature to discover the elixir of life. For her ripeness is all as she imbibes the bounties and divine blessings of nature. She eventually gathers grace of divine dignity ready to become the bright star with the ability to float in the ethereal nest of heavenly bliss.

It is only in the final stanza that the poet interferes with the knowledge of binaries of physicality. He mourns the death of Lucy, yet he does not grieve for he realizes that with the cessation of the fleshly screen, Lucy has got united with the only ontological reality called Nature. The container called Lucy has met the content called divinity. Fragments of Lucy are left behind in the form of memories for the poet to pick them up and realize on behalf of us the formative influence of nature in human life. It is in the glory of the higher reality that we must indulge ourselves. Hope you enjoyed going through the summary and analysis of the Three years she grew up in the sun and shower. 

Three Years She Grew in Sun and Shower

Summary

The poem 'Three Years She Grew in Sun and Shower' was composed by the great nature poet William Wordsworth in 1799 in Germany. It was first published in The Lyrical Ballads in 1800. Wordsworth wrote about five poems about Lucy. It was one of the most famous poems in his collection of Lucy poems. Lucy is a lovely creation of nature. The poet expresses his feelings for nature in an impressive way. 

According to the poet, nature can bring up a child better than human beings. In this poem, Lucy, a girl child lives in the lap of nature completely for three years. Nature guides her very well in her natural atmosphere. Lucy is very happy in the company of nature and its objects. She learns many things from natural objects like flowers, grass, leaves, clouds, and even storms. 

Thus, Lucy becomes a healthy and lovely lady in her natural surroundings of Nature. But she dies very soon at a very young age. Therefore, the poet is very sad about the death of Lucy. The poet is very upset to remember her memories. The poet expresses his feelings after the death of Lucy. This poem describes how Nature brings up Lucy in a natural way.

Three Years She Grew in Sun and Shower...Poem Analysis Stanza wise

Stanza --1

According to the poet, Lucy was brought up by nature as a guide for three years. Lucy enjoyed in the lap of nature completely. After passing three years in Sun and shower nature compares Lucy to the loveliest flower on earth. Lucy seems to nature very charming like a beautiful flower. So, nature decides to adopt Lucy and bring them up. Nature wants to bring up Lucy according to her own way. She wants to make Lucy cultured and disciplined like her.

Stanza --2

Nature cares for Lucy wherever she goes in the hilly areas, the plains, on the earth or in the sky. She goes with her everywhere to take care of her. Nature always guides her in her work and stimulates her energies. She always inspires her to have noble thoughts. \

Stanza - 3

According to the poet nature always will guide Lucy to keep her on the right path. Lucy also will feel happy like a young deer who jumps and plays in the grassy land. She will also enjoy the company of nature and its objects. She will be calm in the peaceful atmosphere of nature. She will feel the fragrance of the flowers.

Stanza -- 4

According to the poet, Nature will teach Lucy important lessons in life. She will teach her the qualities of nature. Lucy will learn the value of freedom from the free movements of clouds. She will learn softness and flexibility from the willow trees. She will also learn from fearful storms to live in a graceful manner. In fact, she will learn from nature to be calm and peaceful in every situation of life. Thus, nature will teach her according to her own way of teaching.

Stanza -- 5

According to the poet, the shining stars of midnight surely will attract Lucy towards them. She will be attracted towards the small rivers after listening to their sweet sounds. Nature believes that its face of Lucy will shine after hearing the murmuring sound of small rivers. Her personality will be charming and graceful.

Stanza -- 6

According to the poet, in the company of nature, Lucy will grow and change into a graceful figure. She will be changed into a beautiful lady. Her heart will be filled with extreme joy and happiness. Nature will teach her according to her own way. she will fill her heart with noble and cheerful thoughts under the education of nature. Lucy will grow in a beautiful and graceful personality.

Stanza--7

Here, in the last stanza of the poem, the poet says that nature has turned Lucy into a graceful lady as she said but she did not know that Lucy would die very soon. Lucy died at a very young age. Lucy left nature alone. Nature is also very sad to think that Lucy will never come again. Thus, the poet is also sad about the death of Lucy.

The speaker is saying that even though Lucy dies very young, her spirit nevertheless has merged with nature. According to what a personified figure called Nature tells the speaker, Lucy will still be part of the rocks and plains, will still leap like a fawn over mountain springs, and will still experience storms and the night skies, because her soul will be part of creation.

Nature speaks to the narrator to comfort him, telling him that he (Nature) and Lucy will live together. Nature calls Lucy a lovely flower and says she will be "a Lady of mine own."

At the end of the poem, the speaker marvels at how quickly Lucy was taken from him. At the same time, he takes solace in her memory as it lives intertwined in the quiet scene of the heath before him.

The poet means that our lives, in some form or another, be it through spirit or memory, live on past the death of our bodies.

We can describe this poem as a Romantic nature poem because of the close connection that Nature says Lucy has with itself on her death. A key Romantic idea is a way in which nature is something that we can learn from and become united with if we are aware enough of our intimate connection with it. As a child, Lucy, the girl who dies in this poem, has a natural advantage, as Wordsworth believed that children were much more able to respond to the beauty and wisdom of nature and that this became harder as you grew older. Consider the following stanza as an example of the intimate link between Lucy and Nature:

She shall be sportive as the fawn

That wild with glee across the lawn

Or up the mountain springs;

And hers shall be the breathing balm,

And hers the silence and the calm

Of mute insensate things.

What is interesting about this poem is that, although Lucy dies, to Nature, this death is cast in a very positive light, as Lucy will gain a closeness with nature and become a part of it in such a strong way that it is almost a positive rather than a negative.

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