Frustrated with common poetic themes and formats, William Wordsworth wrote “Preface to Lyrical Ballad” and in his essay he introduces his ideals for poetry. Among these ideals he defines poetry as “writing in verse an author makes a formal engagement that he will gratify certain known habits of association” (Preface Woodsworth). Woodsworth stresses quite a few times during the preface how poetry to him consists of the relationship and engagement between author and audience. Alongside defining poetry, he also describes what differentiates poets from regular men. He says that poetic men have “acquired a greater readiness and power in expressing what he thinks and feels” (Preface Woodsworth). Wordsworth stresses the importance of self-reflection and believes the process for writing has to follow strong thought on prior occurrences. Also, remaining calm, and not losing one’s self to exciting situations is thought to be important. Through these ideals and definitions, it makes sense that Wordsworth would apply his own thoughts to his poems.
In the poem “Lucy Gray” by William Wordsworth, a young girl goes missing while she is walking in a snowstorm. The only evidence of the girl happens to be a set of footprints that stop at a bridge, then disappear. One can assume based on the situation, that Lucy Gray died from falling off the bridge, or from exposure. One also knows what’s happening due to the language used in the poem: “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” (Lucy Gray, Woodsworth). The language used in this poem is easy to understand, as it doesn’t include many figures of speech or hard to understand poetic diction. This aligns with Wordsworth’s ideals set forth in “Preface to Lyrical Ballad”. He explained how he wanted all audiences to understand poetry, straying from the idea that poetry is for those in academia. He says, “I have proposed to myself to imitate…to adopt, the very language of men” (Preface, Woodsworth).
Another one of Wordsworth’s poetic ideals is for poetry to be of relatable subject matter; “I proposed to myself in these poems was to choose incidents and situations from common life” (Preface Wordsworth). This method is used in “Lucy Gray”. Though in terms of relatability, it is common tragedy from losing a child, where everyone has heard of a child becoming lost and dying. Especially in the time when this was written, this would have been extremely relatable for those reading his poems.
Lucy Gray, in the poem, despite all evidence pointing towards her demise, Woodsworth writes of her and her merging with nature. Nearing the end of the poem, it says that “yet some maintain that to this day/She is a living child. /That you may see sweet Lucy Gray/Upon the lonesome Wind” (Lucy Gray Wordsworth). It seems that instead of acknowledging Lucy’s death, people claim to see her and how she is a part of nature. I think this plays to the notion of hoping for the best, even the impossible, in times of tragedy. Sometimes, people make up stories to help them cope with loss, and I think Wordsworth is referencing that here. He does state in his preface that, “Each of these poems has a purpose…Namely to illustrate the manner in which our feelings and ideas are associated in a state of excitement” (Preface Wordsworth). Losing a child in the snow isn’t exactly exciting with positive connotation, but it is a situation with many stressful and therefore exciting aspects.
I do believe that Lucy Gray illustrates Wordsworth’s ideals and vision for evolving poetry. Common language, relatability, and meaningful content are all largely present in this poem, and arguably the most important of Wordsworth’s ideals.
Brit Lit 2020 