The Lucy poems very evidently address the loss of Lucy. What
I find so intriguing is Wordsworth’s ability to capture the breadth of feelings
that result from this loss. In particular the juxtaposition of Strange fits of passion have I known and
A slumber did my spirit seal strikes
me as particularly jarring.
Strange fits of
passion have I known is the opening poem in the Lucy poems (although I am
not sure if that is how Wordsworth intended it to be or if that is merely how
The Norton Anthology printed it). The title alone conveys raw emotion – the
idea of a ‘ fit of passion’ is both beautiful and tragic given the context. The
fits are only intended for the Lover’s ear and thus become something private
and intimate – a whisper of sorts. The poem manages to exude a sense of anxiety
at the moon’s impending “dropping” and comparably, Lucy’s death. The poem ends
with an expression of emotion, “’O mercy!’ to myself I cried,/’ If Lucy should
be dead!’” (27-28). The reader can sense the speaker’s sense of panic and
presumably passion as the poem wanes with the moon.
Conversely, A slumber
did my spirit seal seems to lack emotion or feelings – perhaps addressing
another reaction to death – one that is cold and closed off, or “sealed.” In
this poem the speaker does not even mention Lucy’s name but only refers to her
as “she,” as if to not connect to her too intimately, a drastic contradiction
to the intimate whispers of Strange fits.
In A slumber, the speaker mentions
his lack of fears in addition to her lack of feelings and senses. In contrast
to Strange fits concluding lines, A slumber ends with “Rolled round in
earth’s diurnal course,/ With rocks, and stones, and trees” (7-8). The speaker
likens “her” to a cold rock and does not seem to possess the same fit of
passion as the speaker of the last poem. This being said, while Wordsworth
manages to capture the variety of feelings or lack there of that have resulted
from the loss of Lucy, I am not sure if we are supposed to read these poems as having
the same speaker or a different one – that could easily change the
interpretation.
I also noticed that the speaker in all of the Lucy poem's seemed to have varying opinions on Lucy. Sometimes the speaker seemed to be emotionally attached to Lucy while in others the speaker is so emotionally detached that he doesn't even refer to her by name. I assumed this was just Wordsworth's way of discussing different reactions to a tragic loss from the same speaker. It is really interesting to think that these poems could have different speakers who all find Lucy important enough (or unimportant enough?) to write a poem about and reflect on her death. It makes me wonder who these speakers are and why Lucy played such a pivotal role in several lives.
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