"Lucy Gray;" Epitomizes Romantic Poetry according to Wordsworth

    In William Wordsworth's "Preface to Lyrical ballads"  (1800) Wordsworth establishes his ideals of poetry and essentially leaves loose understandings of a new, natural, and less structured poetry movement. He revolts against the structured traditions of the classical movement and is after raw authentic emotion found in natural daily settings. 

The top 3 things to take away from Wordsworth's Preface:

1.   Poetry isn't merely metered words and poetic diction but "the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings."(p. 123, 1st edition)
2.   Wordsworth's central objective was to "choose incidents and situations from common life, and to relate or describe them, in a selection of language really used by men."(P.122) While also throwing "a certain colouring of imagination, whereby ordinary things should be presented to the mind in an unusual way; and to make these incidents and situations interesting by tracing in them, the primary laws of our nature." (P. 122)
3.  Wordsworth goes out of his way to distance himself from poetic diction, stating, "I have taken as much pains to avoid it as others ordinarily take to produce it." He felt it was important "to bring my language near to the language of men," and change the norm of "which is supposed by many persons to be the proper object of poetry."(p.124)

    Lucy Gray (1800) highlights Wordsworth's ideals set forth in the Preface perfectly. He takes us to a natural setting with a sweet and innocent character that are both stripped of any structure, both show no signs of conforming to human interest. Wordsworth points out Lucy's blissful innocence in many instances; "The solitary child. No Mate, no comrade Lucy Knew," (Ln 4-5)  She hasn't yet learned of the harsh realities of life, she is pure and sweet; so much so that her naturalness is compared to a merry deer. "Not Blither is the mountain roe," (Ln 25) She also "never looks behind;" (Ln 62) which could mean she is ignorant of life's dangers (like drowning) or possibly in a natural innocent state of mind that she'll never have to look back. Wordsworth's scene is simple, pure, and relatable.

"And to the Bridge they came.
They follow'd from the snowy bank
Those footmarks, one by one,
Into the middle of the plank,
And further there were none." (Ln 52-56)

   The bridge is symbolic of crossing into adulthood or the loss of innocence. Something that Lucy will never do. In my opinion Wordsworth definitely delivers on the "overflow of powerful" emotion. We are left with Lucy's pure footprints leading straight into a natural storm. Our natural setting and innocent character become one. If Lucy did live long enough to cross the bridge she could be alive in the physical sense but it seems, for Wordsworth anyways, that humanity and freedom are more important than life. 

  

   Wordsworth differentiated himself from Neo-Classical poets (whom used a crafty vocabulary, elaborate metaphors, and focused on perfecting language) by sparking emotions with relatable situations that the masses could relate and empathize with. Lucy Gray is very easy to identify with, a child dying always sparks emotion and probably happened often in the early 19th century. "The end of Poetry is to produce excitement in co-existence with an overbalance of pleasure." (p. 127) Wordsworth achieved his end as sought out in the Preface; overflow of feelings, as well as natural and relatable language and story-line.  

    Works Cited

Broadview Anthology of British Literature Concise Edition Volume B

Image Credit: Hulton Getty