1. What is the background of the poem?
Lucy Gray, a ballad, was written in 1799 and published in the second edition of “Lyrical Ballads”.
This is a tragic poem narrating the story of a beautiful girl Lucy Gray and the ‘sweetest thing’ of
nature. The poem was written by William Wordsworth, he was residing at that time in Goslar, in
Germany. During his stay there, his sister Dorothy narrated a true story to him about a young girl
in Halifax (Yorkshire), who went up one night and was caught up in a snow storm. The parents
searched for hours and followed tracks to a canal lock, where the footsteps stopped. The girl’s
body was later found in the canal. The poet dyes this tragic story with the colours of nature and
relates it to his own belief-the immortality of nature.
2. How did Lucy strand on the moor and what happened to her?
Lucy’s father asked her to go to town and guide her mother back to home. Being a dutiful child,
she took the lantern and left home looking for her mother who had gone to town. She went off
joyfully and merrily, playfully dispersing the snow with the strokes of her feet. It was an irony of
fate that the storm came unexpectedly before the time her father had predicted. As Lucy’s father
was busy in cutting woods, so this little child was sent for such an uphill task. In a short while, the
storm turned furious and made it impossible for Lucy to find her way back to home. She lost her
way and desperately wandered here and there in search of her way and reached a wooden
bridge that had a broken plank in the middle. When she reached there, she fell down and died.
3. Who was Lucy Gray and why was the poet fascinated by her?
Lucy was the sweetest girl child and the most beautiful creature of nature. She lived with her
parents on the moor. She was the only child of a simple couple. She had no companion or mate
to play with. All the time she would play alone or engaged in playing with lovely and cute animals
on the moor. William Wordsworth, who was very sensitive to nature and its beauty, had great
attraction to the child because she was a handsome and innocent creature of nature. He thinks
that Lucy Gray was a magnificent and obedient child. The poet portrays Lucy Gray as a symbol of
natural beauty in this poem. Her beauty was like the beauty of those beautiful flowers that blush
unseen in the wild woods.
4. How did Lucy’s parents come to know that they have lost their child?
Lucy obeyed her father and took lantern to light up the way of her mother. Unfortunately the
storm came earlier than expected and she was overtaken by the storm. When the poor child did
not return home, her unfortunate parents became worried. They set off to search for their child
far and wide. They went from pillar to the post and tried to find her at every nook and corner, but
all their efforts ended in smoke. At last, they saw her footmarks that ended at the middle of the
broken wooden bridge. It was thought that innocent child had fallen into the stream
5. On what account Lucy Gray becomes the part of nature?
Lucy Gray was a part of nature. In the first stanza and the last two stanzas, the poet has shown
that Lucy Gray was a true child of nature as she used to appreciate and enjoy nature when she
was a live and even after her death, as the second stanza maintains that Lucy is a living child.
Wordsworth was a poet of nature and he valued nature in all forms. Also Wordsworth cherished
childhood as according to him, a person is purer and closer to nature in childhood. And lastly,
Lucy died because of the snowstorm that is at the hands of nature, and her body was never
found. Hence, Lucy became a part of nature as after her death, she became one with nature. Lucy
Gray has been portrayed as the symbol of natural beauty. Through her, Wordsworth conveys the
idea that a thing of nature is a source of eternal joy and happiness. Its beauty and joy are eternal.
Even if it loses its physical form the beauty it leaves behind is always alive in our senses to give us
eternal joy.
‘A thing of beauty is a joy forever’ – John Keats
6. What do people think about Lucy Gray after her tragic death?
The people think that Lucy Gray has become a part of Nature. They think that Lucy has been
transformed into an immortal child. She is a living child and she has attained an eternal life. She is
still seen wandering about the moor floating over the hills like a shadow. She sings melodious
songs of loneliness, which whistle in the air and leave ever lasting impressions on the mind of
wayfarers.
‘Perhaps nature is our best assurance of immortality’ -Roosevelt
7. Write few lines about the poet of the poem “Lucy Gray”?
William Wordsworth is one of the most thoughtful poets of nature. He is widely known as
‘pantheist’. Nature is to be-all and end-all of his life. Wordsworth as a poet and critic introduced a
new conception of poetic style, insisting that the plain language of common speech was a fit
medium for a poet. The religious route of Wordsworth is from nature to God. He loved the
beauty of countryside with a truly religious adoration, he believed that Man was a part of Nature
and Nature was an aspect of God. The credit of originating the Romantic Movement in the
literature of the world goes to him. He did not like the artificial diction employed by the poets of
18th century. It is rightly said about him:
‘Priest and Prophet of nature’
