Friday, January 13, 2012

What is the theme of the poem "Lucy Gray" by William Wordsworth?

William Wordsworth's "Lucy Gray" tells the story of an innocent young girl who is lost in the wild and never found again. The suggestion is that she dies, although at the end Wordsworth suggests Lucy might still dwell in the wilderness somewhere far from civilization. It's unclear whether he's implying that Lucy is still alive, or if he's merely suggesting that her spirit lives on in the natural world. 


"Lucy Gray" is part of Wordsworth's "Lucy" poems, a group that includes the famous "She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways." All of these poems meditate upon a similar theme: the death of some unimportant and unknown person who lived in relative isolation in the midst of natural beauty. In general, these poems depict a young girl called Lucy who lives in close proximity to the wild and is gradually absorbed by the wild lands she inhabits, either through death or simply by disappearing. "Lucy Gray" follows this theme, as it shows the young, innocent Lucy disappearing into the vast world of nature.

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