Lucy Gray's Relation to Wordsworth's Preface

In Wordsworth’s “Preface to Lyrical Ballads”, he establishes a revolutionary way of writing poetry: for the common man. Ironically, his intentions were to make poetry easier to understand, however I struggled initially to comprehend some of his messages. It is coming along more easily now. Wordsworth believes that poets should abstain from using poetic diction, meaning that poetry should be written in a way for all men to understand, not only for other poets. Being a Romantic Poet, Wordsworth focused Lyrical Ballads on everyday events that happen in nature and rural life. Though some believe that Wordsworth may have been condescending for considering it his duty to write in a way that anyone could understand, I believe that his style is appropriate, even necessary, considering the content he was writing about, the natural world, which applied more to the people of rural life styles. Although not writing about nature alone, Wordsworth synergized ordinary events and “[threw] over them a certain coloring of imagination, whereby ordinary things may be presented to the mind in an unusual way” (Broadview 148) to make it more interesting and relatable to the common reader.

The poem that I enjoyed most and that encompassed his ideas from “Preface to Lyrical Ballads” was Lucy Gray. The diction in the poem is easy enough to understand while also displaying complex imagery and symbols, accomplishing his desire to splash “color” on his simpler poems. Lucy Gray is a poem that depicts a young girl that leaves her house in the country to go to town. A storm comes when Lucy is out, and the next day her parents follow her footprints in the snow until they end at the bridge by the river. Wordsworth stays true to his ideas in the Preface of Lyrical Ballads by constantly comparing this country girl to images of nature. Initially, Lucy is compared to several living things found throughout nature, such as a sweet flower, a playful fawn, a hare upon a green field until she sets out into the darkness. Once Lucy is lost, Wordsworth no longer compares her to living symbols, but to the rushing river where she died. “O’er rough and smooth she trips along, And never looks behind; And sings a solitary song That whistles in the wind.” This poem is relatable to people who are from rural life styles not only because they are surrounded by nature, but recognizes the dangers that come with nature. He accomplishes his goal of presenting an ordinary event in an unusual way by personifying living symbols in nature and comparing them to Lucy, then personifying a nonliving symbol and compares it to Lucy.

Nutting and Wordsworth's Preface

In his preface to Lyrical Ballads, William Wordsworth sets out his notion of poets and poetry, and the motivating principles behind his specific style of poetry. Chief among his claims are that poetry need not restrict itself to then-common poetic tropes such as meter, rhyme, and lofty 'poetic diction' - because if poetry relies too heavily on being formulaic, there can be no "spontaneous overflow of powerful emotions." He sought to accomplish his goal of illuminating human nature by filtering common incidents through a certain level of imagination, and a core component of this was remaining well enough within the boundaries of what he deemed common speech. Also important to his approach was the component of contemplation - that the truth in a poem must come from deeply pondering it, and cannot simply be a gut reaction. Almost like a poem version of this preface, his poem "Nutting" makes use of pretty much all of these approaches.

Perhaps among the easiest aspects of Wordsworth's style to observe at a glance in "Nutting" are the lack of a strong meter or regular rhyme scheme. To listen to this poem, one could be forgiven for assuming it wasn't a poem at all. Lines regularly break in the middle of a phrase just to keep the lines of even length, and the poem itself is just one long 'stanza.' These, along with the more or less 'common' diction, serve to distance the poem from other forms, and indicate that it's more in line with Wordsworth's mission in his preface.

Aside from the mechanical distinctions from other kinds of poetry, "Nutting" serves as a solid example of Wordsworth's goals of arriving at truth through contemplation, communicating human nature, and demonstrating intense emotion. Wordsworth gives a clear sense that the speaker has thought deeply about this incident, as he recalls "one of those heavenly days that cannot die" (indicating it was a singular experience), and admits he might "confound [his] present feelings with the past" (suggesting he has developed a different perspective through repeatedly thinking about it). He also gives us a sense of the "laws of our nature" through the plot of the poem - the speaker is able to stop and enjoy the great beauty of the thicket he discovers, but ultimately 'defiles' it for personal gain, demonstrating two competing interests in the speaker that should be quite familiar to the reader - even if they've never had quite the same experience as the speaker. Finally, the poem aptly demonstrates emotions appropriate to the speaker's conflicting attitudes at the incident. When the speaker finds the thicket, he is "blest with sudden happiness" and feels the "sweet mood when pleasure loves to pay tribute to ease," describing at length the joy of discovering such a beautiful spot. When he cuts the trees' limbs for their nuts, he uses darker language, describing the thicket as "mutilated" and feeling pain as he observes "the intruding sky." The intense emotion communicated through the language used throughout the poem demonstrates Wordsworth's idea of "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" quite well.

Thoughts on Wordsworth and Lucy Gray

Diving into the work of William Wordsworth was at first challenging for me, as I am more used to contemporary ideas and works, however his thoughts on poetry are both intriguing and eye opening. I have quickly adjusted to his poetic style and found myself enjoying his work more and more as we have delved into it.

Wordsworth believed that poetry should apply to the common people- not just be some sort of secret language understood only by other poets. He felt somewhat of a duty or responsibility to use his “gift” to be able to communicate what a normal person may be unable to put to words, but that all humans universally feel. Wordsworth stated this idea in “Preface to Lyrical Ballad” saying that poets need to “choose incidents and situations from common life and to relate or describe them, throughout, as far as was possible, in a selection, of language really used by men; and at the same time throw them over them a certain coloring of imagination.” This idea was revolutionary because poems that at one time were only able to be encrypted and understood by other poets were now more accessible and understood by the common man, while evoking creativity that they could not articulate on their own.

My favorite poem that we have read by Wordsworth is “Lucy Gray.” This poem is lyrical, and manifests the ideas presented to us in his thoughts from “Preface to Lyrical Ballad” in that it uses familiar and simple enough concepts to be understood for its surface meaning. It also dips into supernatural ideas, while it is still realistic enough for the reader to buy into. The poem is about a little girl who disappears in the woods. While sad, the poem’s tone is extremely lighthearted and almost upbeat. It doesn’t stress the actual death as much as it does the importance of Lucy Gray and the importance she holds in nature. As humans, we are able to empathize with emotions such as death and understand the meaning that it carries. Wordsworth intentionally sets this poem in a natural setting, which I propose goes hand in hand with the idea that death is also a natural thing. Instead of mourning death, he almost embraces it. The line, “sings a solitary song, that whistles in the wind,” celebrates her contribution to nature instead of being distraught that she has been removed from it. His upbeat tempo turns what could be an extremely upsetting topic into a normal part of life. 

"Preface to Lyrical Ballads" and "Nutting"

William Wordsworth

In the essay describing the goal of his work, William Wordsworth outlines his sense of poetry in the "Preface to Lyrical Ballads." Wordsworth states his principal object of his work to be "to choose incidents from common life, and to relate or describe them, throughout, as far as was possible in a selection of language..." (Broadview). There is a certain affect one can gain from writing from the viewpoint of a mystic, but the line of real and imaginary can still be played with and retain a realistic feeling. That was one goal of Wordsworth, to draw from the imagination but focus also on the interaction between humans and nature. One such example is "Nutting", where the speaker leaves his cottage to go tromp through the woods. 

"And—with my cheek on one of those green stones

That, fleeced with moss, under the shady trees,

Lay round me, scattered like a flock of sheep—" (35-37)

      

One aspect of Wordsworth's writing and his duty to nature is the imagery he evokes in the above lines. By painting a scene with his words for the reader, Wordsworth not only takes the speaker on a journey, but the reader as well. From Wordsworth's perspective, man does not simply take off from his cottage for a walk. The speaker finds a nice hazel tree with "tempting clusters." So the supposed beautiful scene is eventually wrecked by the picker, who describes the plunder below:

"Then up I rose,

And dragged to earth both branch and bough, with crash

And merciless ravage: and the shady nook

Of hazels, and the green and mossy bower,

Deformed and sullied" (43-46)

Wordsworth shows a clear connection between the impacts humans have on their surrounding environment. Although, this poem is rather childish and playful in the sense that if he wanted, the industrial revolution could be tied in metaphorically. It is possible this can be seen as a commentary on the impact industrial manufacturing was having on the natural world at that time. Considering the idea that Wordsworth states in his Preface regarding wanting to write poetry that can be read for a long time, it is possible the subtly of the speakers impact on the environment of a precious resource is purposeful. 

Language, Imagination, and Nature in "Nutting"

In the preface to “Lyrical Ballads,” William Wordsworth described his goal for crafting this specific group of poems: to write about situations from common life using language “really used by men,” to relate the situations in a style that colored the situations with imagination, and especially to make the situations interesting by “tracing in them….the primary laws of our nature” (Broadview, 148). All three of these goals are met in Wordsworth’s “Nutting.”

“Nutting” describes a particular day when a young man chose to harvest nuts in the woods, an ordinary event in rustic life. The language used in the poem generally reflects language really used by men. The few word choices that stand out as not common to real language include “motley accoutrements” (line 11) and “luxuriates” (line 41).   Otherwise, the language in the poem reflects common language.

As the speaker travels through the woods, he discovers a grove of trees that hasn’t yet been harvested. Word choice colors the description with imagination. As he sits in the shade of a tree, he remarks on “fairy water-breaks” (line 32) that murmur, “sparkling” (line 33) foam, and stones that “lay round me scatter’d like a flock of sheep” (line 36). Wordsworth's use of similes and metaphors help create the imagination in the poem. 

Wordsworth achieved his goal of tracing the primary laws of nature in “Nutting.” Early in the poem, he uses language rich in imagery to reveal nature in “Nutting.” He describes the bounty that undisturbed nature offers. On first discovering the unvisited nook, the speaker sees this scene:

….not a broken bough
Droop’d with its wither’d leaves, ungracious sign
Of devastation, but the hazels rose
Tall and erect, with milk-white clusters hung,
A virgin scene!

This particular section of the woods had possibly been hidden from the human eye for five years (“The violets of five seasons re-appear/ And fade, unseen by any human eye,” lines 30-31). Wordsworth describes this discovery as a “banquet” (line 24), one that offers the guest a feeling that “after long and weary expectation, have been blessed with sudden happiness beyond all hope” (lines 26-28). Wordsworth described the potential harvest as “rich beyond the wealth of kings” (line 50).  Wordsworth demonstrates through this language that nature evokes emotion in man and offers treasure to man.   Wordsworth also encourages the idea of nature as a living entity by repeating the word “murmur” three times and comparing stones to sheep. Wordsworth writes that the nook “patiently gave up their quiet being” (lines 46-47), insinuating that the nook could have stubbornly held on to its harvest rather than share. The speaker admits to a sense of pain when he sees the results of his harvest of the trees, which adds strength to the idea of nature as a living entity and of the reciprocal relationship between man and nature. Finally, in the concluding line of the poem, Wordsworth directly states, “There is a Spirit in the woods,” encouraging the reader to be gentle with nature.

In crafting “Nutting,” Wordsworth achieved his goals of incorporating the real language of men, coloring a common situation with imagination, and tracing the laws of nature throughout the poem.

The Nutting and Preface to Lyrical Ballads

In Wordsworth’s Preface to Lyrical Ballads, he continues to develop his ideal form of poetry. He discusses the expectation of a poet’s language to be filled with the “spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings” (Broadview, 153) and the evocation of deep, substantial passion.  Both of these components, as well as many others, bring profound prose to Wordsworth’s audience in a common and easily understood form of language. In Nutting, the connection he makes between humans and nature correlates the man’s constant abuse to such a beautiful, naturally evoked place by the harvesting of hazels and the newly found form of his contact with nature. In this, the irony put forth by Wordsworth is clear. Here you have a man who finds fortune in harvesting these nuts (“exulting, rich beyond the wealth of kings…” [Nutting, ln 50]) in a time where affluence is hard to come by (as long as the business you're in is not part of the industrializing economy), yet he begins to feel wrong in destroying something so gentle (In gentleness of heart with gentle hand…” [Nutting, ln 54]). In Wordsworth’s attempt to be succinct and easily understood in his descriptions of nature, he still leaves his audience with a haunting depiction of the setting in Nutting and a visual of where this man was going to gather his hazels. Using his detailed narrative to describe the natural scenes he found so refreshing from the neoclassical poet’s polished elegance and courtliness, he appeals to even the most common of folk who are searching for beauty in the written word. Along with this, Wordsworth uses the mysticism of the natural scene to bring into question how altering our destruction of nature actually is. This mysticism can be seen throughout Nutting, but mostly after the man does the deed of finding an untouched spot to harvest. “Where fairy water-breaks do murmur on…” (ln 32) and “Touch—for there is a Spirit in the woods” (ln 55) are both examples of this mysticism. In this, Wordsworth compares the disruption of the natural essence that surrounds the man to the disruption of something almost holy. The poet’s continual usage of natural and rustic elements can be explained in his Preface to Lyrical Ballads as, “the passions of men are incorporated with the beautiful and permanent forms of nature.” (Broadview, 148). In this, Wordsworth attempts to explain his usage of natural elements as a way of stirring passions and emotions from his audience in ways the previous poets and writers could not, or would not. He evokes a new way of looking at the world and the landscapes that surround men, in order to evoke in them a deeper and clearer understanding of the importance of being introduced to such beauty. 

"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