A quick journey through a famous poem by William Wordsworth. You can know more and learn easily about the poem. More easy to get close with the great poet of the Elizabethan Romantic Era.
2. Born: 7 April 1770
Died: 23 April 1850
Literary Movement:
Romanticism
Contemporaries: Samuel
Taylor Coleridge, William
Blake
Notable Works: Lyrical
Ballads, Poems inTwo
Volumes,The Excursion,The
Prelude
3. "A slumber did my spirit seal" is a poem
written by William Wordsworth in 1798
and published in the 1800 edition
of Lyrical Ballads. It is usually included
as one of his Lucy poems, although it is
the only poem of the series not to
mention her name.
4. During the autumn of 1798, Wordsworth
travelled to Germany with his sister Dorothy
and fellow poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge. From
October 1798, Wordsworth worked on the first
drafts for his "Lucy poems". which included
"Strange fits of passion have I known", "She
dwelt among the untrodden ways" and "A
slumber".
5. In December 1798, Wordsworth sent copies of
"Strange fits" and "She dwelt" to Coleridge and
followed his letter with "A slumber". Eventually,
"A slumber", was published in the 1800 edition
of Lyrical Ballads.
6. Unique amongst Lucy poems, "A slumber" does not
directly mention Lucy. The decision by critics to
include the poem as part of the series is based in
part on Wordsworth's placing it in close proximity to
"Strange fits" and directly after "She dwelt" in
the Lyrical Ballads.
11. A slumber did
my spirit seal;
I had no human
fears:
She seemed a
thing that could
not feel
The touch of
earthly years.
In the first of the
poem's two stanzas,
the speaker
declares that a
"slumber" has kept
him from realizing
reality. In essence,
he has been in a
dream-like state,
devoid of any
common fears. To
the speaker, "she"
seemed like she
12. My Spirit: The poet’s power of realizing the
reality.
Human Fears: Common fears of pain, sorrow
and death faced by man.
The touch of earthly years: The human attribute
of growing older with the passage of time.
13. No motion has
she now, no
force;
She neither
hears nor sees;
Rolled round in
earth's diurnal
course,
With rocks, and
stones, and
In the second
and final stanza,
however, we
learn that she
has died. She
lies still and can
no longer see or
hear. She has
become a part of
the day-to-day
course of the
14. Earth’s Diurnal Course: Earth’s daily rotation.
With rocks, stones and trees: Along with all the
material wealth of earth; a part of earth.