Lucy Gray is a really iconic poem by William Wordsworth narrating the story of a girl who went in search for her mother but got lost herself. Here’s the summary of the poem.

The poet had heard of Lucy Gray many times. He had actually seen her once, when he was crossing the wilderness. She lived in solitude on an expansive wasteland and was the most beautiful girl that was ever born. Nature had not changed her surroundings, for fawn and the hare continued to play vibrantly. One day her father asked her to go to the town with a lantern and give her mother light so she could walk back home. Lucy readily agreed to the task and as if in an effort to assure herself and her father of her safety, she called attention for the fact that the morning had barely passed, for it was only two o’ clock then. But, it proved to be a bad omen that she saw the moon during the early afternoon hour. Her father got busy in his work and Lucy left for the town. She was going ‘blithely’ and was ‘wantonly’ dispersing the snow that lay on the ground. But a storm came up unexpectedly and Lucy got lost. She tried her best to recover her directions but failed. Her parents looked for her everywhere but did not find her footprints. They too eventually disappeared in the middle of a bridge. Some people refused to admit that Lucy had died on that fateful day. They said that she could be seen on the lonesome moor and that her joyful steps had not slowed.

Critical Appreciation: The poem was written in the traditional ballad theme and its rhyme scheme is a, b, a, b. The first fact about Lucy was her solitude. She was not really related at all to the human community. Involvement in the lives of other human beings was confined to her obedience to her father and to her going with willingness to meet her mother. But, she was not like her parents either; after her death (or what they assumed was her death), they suffered greatly, but Lucy’s characteristic joy remained untouched by the events her parents considered tragic. The claim that some persons made about her, which Wordsworth was careful to relate, has for us a greater authenticity than her parent’s plaintive wail. The reader believes that Lucy was still alive.

It is a two level poem, contrasting the child’s oblivion to the limits of mortality to the painfully vivid awareness of the adult mind. A number of Wordsworth’s poems concentrate on the fading of ‘the vision splendid’ ‘into the light of common day’. In a nearly classical way that mystics become in the final stage blended with what they yearn, Lucy Gray merges with nature. She did not die in a way that is marked by definite historical action; the mystics do not have relatedness to the divine either. The footmarks that the parents trace farther and farther into the wild stopped only in the middle of the bridge. This means that the point is not an end. Having made the transition, she does not look back with nostalgia as her time-bound parents would.

Summary And Critical Analysis Of Lucy Gray:
Lucy Gray is one of the most known works of WordsWorth. As told before by my colleague, WordsWorth is the “poet of nature”,he was deeply affected by nature. This poem tells the tale of Lucy’s short journey of life in this world—her growth, perfection and untimely death. The poet informs us that Lucy lived a delicate and solitary life in the world of Nature unpolluted by human intrusion.

This poem has two phases first,the brighter side and then the tragic end.

wordsworth here discusses nature beautifully,such a way that its sketch automatically forms in our mind(that,what I think is the magic of words).The character lucy is written as a little,beautiful and obedient girl whose untimely death is a big tragedy here!!!blow is given ,that is the lucy’s untimely death.
The most touchy and moving part for me was the desperate efforts of parents in search of their child.the emotional state of parents at the loss of their daughter is quite impressive…anyone can associate themselves with it,with a feeling of losing a loved and near one. This kind of situation is very hard to explain specially when your writing a poem,and that is why Wordsworth resorts to rhetorical way: he compares the fragility and the beauty of her existence to that of a violent which blooms by a mossy stone, where it remains half-hidden from others.
In the final stanzas, Wordsworth informs the reader of Lucy’s secluded way of life and her sudden death. Just as she lived unknown, she also died unknown. Finally the poet suddenly becomes conscious of the immediate reality that she is no more alive!!! in this world and is sleeping forever in her grave. He feels acute pain in his heart and abruptly ends the poem with equivocal words. Now he can feel the difference of his situation of utter grief that has been created by the loss from the one of divine bliss when she was alive.
“boundary being, nature sprite and human, yet not quite either”.
She reminds us of the traditional mythical person who lives, ontologically, an intermediate life, or mediates various realms of existence."[34] Although the poems evoke a sense of loss, they also hint at the completeness of Lucy's life—she was raised by nature and survives in the memories of others.[86] She became, in the opinion of the American poet and writer David Ferry (b. 1924), "not so much a human being as a sort of compendium of nature", while "her death was right, after all, for by dying she was one with the natural processes that made her, and fantastically ennobled thereby".[87]
Comments and views of some readers:
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I believe Wordsworth took the tragic story of a lonely little girl who drowned alone knowing no-one would hear her calls very much to heart and immortilised her memory forever in the poem of Lucy Gray, that she should forever live on in our readings and debates,whether you like the poem or not you shall never forget the poem or the story associated with it,of a tragic turn of events that to be honest happens in everyday life,but years after such a tragedy how many of you can honestly say you can remember the childs name that was involved, not many im sure but you;ll all remember Lucy Gray thats for sure. angel123

| Posted on 2010-06-24 | by a guest

lucy Gray is a nice projection of the society where child labourer existed. . . a girl child habitually obeying dad\'s call for a duty to her other parent. the suspicious death of Lucy actually shocked Dorothy who related n shared her depression or sadness with her dear brother. sir William has rather potrayed the innocent obedient child who was fearless to face the stormy night though unknown of the fatality of travelling on a snowy stormy path, unaware n inexperienced to face such an inclement weather n finally couldn\'t survive. so wordsworth is grt.

| Posted on 2010-09-15 | by a guest

The series presents nature as a force by turns benevolent and malign.[91] It is shown at times to be oblivious to and uninterested in the safety of humanity.[92]