Wordsworth's Seven

"We Are Seven"
---- A simple Child,
That lightly draws its breath,
And feels its life in every limb,
What should it know of death?

I met a little cottage Girl:
She was eight years old, she said;
Her hair was think with many a curl
That clustered round her head.

She had a rustic, woodland air,
And she was wildly clad:
Her eyes were fair, and very fair;
–Her beauty made me glad.

"Sisters and brothers, little Maid,
How many may you be?"
"How many? Seven in all," she said
And wondering looked at me.

"And where are they? I pray you tell."
She answered, "Seven are we;
And two of us at Conway dwell,
And two are gone to sea."

"Two of us in the church-yard lie,
My sister and my brother;
And, in the church-yard cottage, I
Dwell near them with my mother."

"You say that two at Conway dweel,
And two are gone to sea,
Yet we are seven!-- I pray you tell,
Sweet Maid, how this may be"

Then did the little Maid reply,
"Seven boys and girls are we;
Two of us in the church-year lie,
Beneath the church-yard tree."

"You run about, my little Maid,
Your limbs they are alive;
If two are in the church–yard laid,
Then ye are only five."

"Their graves are green, they may be seen,"
The little Maid replied,
"Twelve step or more from my mother’s door,
And they are side by side."

"My stockings there I often knit,
My kerchief there I hem;
And there upon the ground I sit,
And sing a song to them."

"And often after sunset, Sir,
When if is light and fair,
I take my little porringer,
And eat my supper there."

"The first that died was sister Jane;
In bed she moaning lay,
Till God released her of her pain;
And then she went away."

" So in the church-yard she was laid;
And, when the grass was dry,
Together round her grave we played,
My brother John and I."

"And when the ground was white with snow,
And I could run and slide,
My brother John was forced to go,
And he lies by her side."

"How many are you, then," said I,
"If they two are in heaven?"
Quick was the little Maid’s rely,
"O Master! We are seven."

"But they are dead; those two are dead!
Their spirits are in heaven!"
‘Twas throwing words away; for still
The little Maid would have her will,
And said, "Nay, we are seven!"

This ballad by Wordsworth truly touched me the moment I read it. It truly embraces not only the ideals of the Romantic period, but also supports Wordsworth’s Preface to Lyrical Ballads. The dialogue within the poem is between the narrator and the child, yet also between a voice of reason, and a voice of emotion or spirituality. Of course, in line with the Romantic period, the child represents the voice of emotion and spirituality, and in the end makes it seems as if reason is invalid and irrelevant. This poem can be viewed as either a pessimistic or optimistic poem, however, I like to see it in an optimistic light. The fact that death does not represent an end to the child is striking to the narrator, and it adds quite a sense of spirituality to the poem that although dead, the brother and sister are still counted amongst the other children. The image that stuck me as the central image was " Their graves are green, they may be seen" which offers a sense of rebirth and renewal that states that in the child’s eye that nothing truly dies. It is suggested through this poem that the children’s death is merely a physical death, and spiritually they each live on through the Maid.

In his Preface, Wordsworth offers the notion that poetry should "chose incidents and situations from common life" that reflect the rustic or rural. This poem surely reflects this notion, as well by using simplistic language that expresses emotion in an interesting way. Wordsworth ironically calls the Maid ‘simple’ in the first line of the poem, however, by the end, it is clear that she is much wiser than the Master, as she is not governed by reason, but rather, emotion.