Wordsworth Flashcards
Strange Fits of Passion: Was this poem in Lyrical Ballads?
Yes, the second edition
Strange Fits of Passion: What name to critics give to this and four other poems?
The “Lucy” poems
Strange Fits of Passion: What happens in this poem?
The speaker describes a strange feeling he once had while riding to cottage of his beloved at night. Once he arrives, he is overcome by the idea that she might be dead behind her door.
Strange Fits of Passion: What does the poem suggest might instigate the speaker’s “strange fit of passion”?
The moon, which has been his companion and guide on his journey, drops out of sight just as he arrives at Lucy’s cottage.
What are the characteristics of a ballad?
- Composed of quatrains
- Regular rhyme scheme (ABAB, CDCD, etc)
- Alternating lines of iambic tetrameter (1st and 3rd lines) and iambic trimeter (2nd and 4th lines)
- IAMBIC
Strange Fits of Passion: What is the form of this poem? Why might Wordsworth have chosen this form?
Ballad
It is reminiscent, perhaps, of a horse’s clopping steps - but also because of the aims of Lyrical Ballads he outlines in the Preface. He wanted to use forms and language familiar to common people.
She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways: To what group of poems does this one belong?
The Lucy poems
She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways: What is the speaker describing in this poem?
He speaks of Lucy, a beautiful “violet” who lived a somewhat seclusive life. The area where she lives was not well-traveled, and not many people knew her. Thus, not many people knew or cared when she died - except for the poet.
“But she is in her grave, and, oh / The difference to me!”
She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways: Is this poem in Lyrical Ballads?
Yes (second edition)
She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways: What form does this poem take?
Ballad
She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways: What three phases can the poem be broken into?
The poem’s three stanzas can be read as a kind of progression - growth, perfection, and then death.
Three Years She Grew: Of what series does this poem belong?
The “Lucy” poems
Three Years She Grew: Was this poem in Lyrical Ballads?
Yes (second edition)
Three Years She Grew: What happens in this poem?
A girl grows to be three years old before Nature takes a liking to her and decides to make Lucy her “darling.” Nature grants her many admirable qualities, and Lucy is able to appreciate and communicate with Nature like few can. Despite all these gifts, Lucy dies young, and the poet, who loved her, is left with nothing but memory.
Three Years She Grew: How old is Lucy when nature first takes an interest in her?
3
Three Years She Grew: How might we characterize the depiction of Nature in this poem?
Although the virtues of communing with Nature are clear, we might also look askance at Nature, who puts so much effort in to crafting Lucy on to let her die young. Ultimately, there is a “marriage” between Lucy and Nature - her human lover is left out of the equation by her death.
A Slumber Did my Spirit Seal: To what group of poems does this belong? What is unique in it among this series?
The Lucy Poems; It is the only one which doesn’t mention her name.
A Slumber Did my Spirit Seal: Was this poem published in Lyrical Ballads?
Yes (second edition)
A Slumber Did my Spirit Seal: What does this poem describe?
The speaker describes a “slumber” which protects his spirit. This slumber is tied into the fact that “she” seems eternal, untouched by human years. The second and final stanza cites a change - “she” is presumably dead (she is in the earth, along with rocks and trees). Her death awakens the speaker from his protective slumber.
A Slumber Did my Spirit Seal: What form does this poem take?
Ballad
Which lines in a Ballad are iambic tetrameter?
1st and 3rd of each stanza
Which lines in a Ballad are iambic trimeter?
2nd and 4th of each stanza
The Ruined Cottage: Of which larger work is this poem a part?
The Excursion
The Ruined Cottage: Is this poem in Lyrical Ballads?
No
