William Wordsworth and "We Are Seven"

As I read the work of William Wordsworth, it seemed to me that he uses a lot of refernces to things that happened in his own life. I enjoyed reading most of his work because it seemed very real to me... his past experinces really came through in some of the poems and it was very heart-felt. The one poem that really stuck out for me was "We Are Seven".

From the beginning of this poem I can sense some of Wordsworth's past coming through. For instance, he writes, "A simple child, dear brother Jim, That lightly draws its breath, And feels its life in every limb, What should it know of death?"(1-4). I think this stanza is speaking to the innocence of a child. Wordsworth is bluntly stating, what should a little innocent child know of death. From his biographical information we recall that he lost his mother at the age of eight (the same age as the cottage girl in the poem). Perhaps this line shows a little of the pain he experinced as he dealt with his mother's death at such a young age. It even seems to have a bit of a bitter tone to it... why should he have to deal with this death at such a young age?

The narrator meets this cottage girl and is initially delighted by her. Wordsworth writes, "Her eyes were fair, and very fair,-- Her beauty made me glad."(lines 11-12). As the narrator asks her about her siblings she holds strong to the fact that there are seven of them. The little girls says, " Seven boys and girls are we; Two of us in the church-yard lie, Beneath the church-yard tree."(30-32). The narrator hears this response and does not understand the child. She is showing her innocence as the poem goes on. She believes that her brothers and sisters are still with her. The narrator is frustrated by her innocence and is trying to convince her desperately that if her brother and sister are dead then there are actually only five of them. You can see this frustration as the narrator states, "You run about, my little Maid, Your limbs they are alive; If two are in the church-yard laid, Then ye are only five."(33-36). Perhaps the narrator is frustrated because he has lost his innocence and sees no way to get it back, so he does not understand the innocence of this little cottage girl. She believes that although her brothers and sisters may be dead and burried, they are still with her. She goes to the place where they are burried a lot and sings to them and sometimes even eats with them.

In the last stanza, the narrator's frustration comes to a head and he says, "But they are dead; those two are dead! Their spirits are in heaven!" (65-66). Here the narrator trys one last time to convince the girl that there are only five of them, but her innocence holds and she replies, "Nay, we are seven!"(69). I think that this poem is very powerful. I have three siblings; the first is 23, I am 20, my brother is 19 and I have a little sister who is only 10. I love hanging out with my sister because she is so innocent. We have to be careful at times about what we say and do around her because we dont want to take that innocence from her, but sometimes we slip up and she will question us. In the end, however, she always holds to her innocent beliefs and sometimes I do not understand it, so I was really able to relate to this poem.