Class IX NCERT Complete solution | Summary |Q&A and Central Idea
About the Poem
This poem is one of the five poems of the poetic series, ‘The Lucy Poems’. It is about the poet’s sorrow due to the demise of his beloved Lucy. In the poem, he expresses his grief by saying that he had neglected the existence of death to such an extent that he failed to realise when the death captured his beloved Lucy. But gradually, he accepts death as the ultimate truth of the world.
About the Poet
William Wordsworth was born on 7th April 1770, Cockermouth, United Kingdom. Simon Lee, We are seven, The Thorn, and The Tables Turned are a few of his notable works. He died on 23 April 1850, Rydal, Westmorland, England
Stanza-wise Explanation
Stanza 1
A slumber did my spirit seal—
I had no human fears.
She seemed a thing that could not feel
The touch of earthly years.
Literary devices
1)Rhyme scheme – abab
2. Alliteration: Spirit sealed
Difficult Words
Slumber: to sleep
Spirit: soul
Explanation
In these lines, the poet expresses his grief by condemning himself as a person who lost his beloved Lucy due to his negligence towards the ultimate truth of the world, death. He elaborates that he lost her because he failed to notice her ageing effects, and so, he never thought that she could ever die.
Stanza 2
No motion has she now, no force—
She neither hears nor sees,
Rolled round in earth’s diurnal course
With rocks and stones and trees.
Literary devices
1)Rhyme scheme – cdcd
2. Alliteration
Rolled round
Difficult Word
Diurnal: having a daily cycle
Explanation
In these lines, the poet expresses his acceptance of the existence of death. And with this, he accepts the truth of Lucy’s demise. The poet depicts this by saying that she is motionless, and has lost all her force to hear or see; and as she is buried into the earth, so as the earth moves, she too is getting rolled along with the rocks, stones and trees.
Quiz: Check yourself
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Answer the following Questions:
1)“A slumber did my spirit seal,” says the poet. That is, a deep sleep ‘closed off ’ his soul (or mind). How does the poet react to his loved one’s death? Does he feel bitter grief ? Or does he feel a great peace?
Answer: The poet is badly grief stricken. He is regretting for ignoring the death, and taking the life for granted.
He feels bitter grief as he has lost his beloved forever.
2) The passing of time will no longer affect her, says the poet. Which lines of the poem say this?
Answer: “The passing of time will no longer affect her”, this statement is evident in the below lines—
“She seemed a thing that could not feel
The touch of earthly years.”
3)How does the poet imagine her to be, after death? Does he think of her as a person living in a very happy state (a ‘heaven’)? Or does he see her now as a part of nature? In which lines of the poem do you find your answer?
Answer: As she is motionless and forceless, and is buried inside the earth, the poet imagines her rolling along the earth’s motion, along with the rocks, stones and trees. He considers her as a part of the nature.
Below lines support the answer—
No motion has she now, no force—
She neither hears nor sees,
Rolled round in earth’s diurnal course
With rocks and stones and trees.
Central idea
The central idea of this poem is the extreme despair of the poet due to demise of his wife.
“Death is the quiet haven of us all.”…William Wordsworth