Friday, May 15, 2009

The Lucy poems (1789-1801)

William Wordsworth's Lucy poems (1789-1801) are five short lyrics originally published in the second edition of the Lyrical Ballads alongside the work of Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

The Lucy poems were central in establishing the early popularity of Romantic poetry, and one or more is almost guaranteed to appear on the GRE Literature exam. It's almost worth memorizing them. (Luckily, each mentions Lucy at or near the end.)

1. "Strange fits of passion I have known"
2. "She dwelt among the untrodden ways"
3. "I travelled among unknown men"
4. "Three years she grew in sun and shower"
5. "A slumber did my spirit seal"