These lines emanate a sliver of hope before the poem takes a turn, and the theme of death arises. This image is very pure, and even hopeful.

In the lines, “You yet may spy the Fawn at play/The Hare upon the Green,” we get a very vivid image of Lucy playing in the country. We see the nature scene set up in lines like, “Not blither is the mountain roe /With many a wanton stroke/Her feet disperse the powdery snow/That rises up like smoke.” We also see examples of life in the country in this poem. The poem is obviously set in nature, so right away we see a connection between Lucy Gray and the principles stated in Wordsworth’s Preface. Again, I believe Lucy Gray follows this idea perfectly. In the “Preface to Lyrical Ballads,” Wordsworth also states that he wishes to relate his poems to nature and life in the country. In this sense, Wordsworth’s Preface is accurate because of the way he stays true to his lyrical ballad ideals of emotion and human experiences. A young girl trying to get home in the midst of a snow-storm, seems pretty human to me. Lucy Gray is a very emotionally powerful ballad, especially because we see a theme of death throughout the poem. The lines in Lucy Gray, “I chanced to see at break of day/The solitary Child/No mate, no comrade Lucy knew /She dwelt on a wide Moor” show just how much Wordsworth felt sorrow towards this fictional character. Wordsworth obviously felt very passionate about this tale. The poem was founded on a story his sister told him about a little girl getting lost in a snow-storm. Now this poem is an example of how Wordsworth’s Preface can be seen as accurate, seeing as this poem directly correlates to his lyrical ballad ideals that I explained above. One of my favorite poems of all time is Lucy Gray, written by Wordsworth himself, in 1799. I believe that he was successful in this endeavor. He wanted the ballads to emanate emotion and real human experiences. As amazing as Wordsworth’s writing is, his accuracy is something that can be debated upon when regarding his “Preface to Lyrical Ballads.” In Wordsworth’s Preface, he explains that one of the reasons for writing the lyrical ballads, is to enlighten readers on the true art form of poetry. His words and phrases can be, quite literally, enchanting. I think we can all agree that William Wordsworth is a genius when it comes to his poetry.

Preface to lyrical ballads wordsworth