Get out the microscope, because we’re going through this poem line-by-line.
Lines 447-454
In a smart, ache, tingle,
Lizzie went her way;
Knew not was it night or day;
Sprang up the bank, tore thro' the furze,
Threaded copse and dingle,
And heard her penny jingle
Bouncing in her purse, -
Its bounce was music to her ear.
- Lizzie is aching all over after being attacked by the goblins.
- She is so out of it from being beaten up that she doesn't know whether it's "night or day."
- This is kind of like Laura's initial reaction to eating the goblin fruit, way back at line 139.
- Lizzie runs up the "bank" of the brook and back across the heath, through "copse," or wooded area, and "dingle," or open meadow.
- She didn't have to give up her penny, so it's still "jingl[ing]" in her "purse."
- That sound is "music to her ear," but the poem doesn't tell us why it's so important to Lizzie that she got her penny back. Maybe the penny symbolized something else?
Lines 455-463
She ran and ran
As if she fear'd some goblin man
Dogg'd her with gibe or curse
Or something worse:
But not one goblin scurried after,
Nor was she prick'd by fear;
The kind heart made her windy-paced
That urged her home quite out of breath with haste
And inward laughter.
- Lizzie keeps on running towards her home – it's as though she's afraid the goblins might chase after her, either with a "gibe," or verbal insult, or with "something worse" (more physical assault, maybe).
- But nothing chases her – she's by herself.
- And we're told that she isn't really motivated by fear of the goblins anymore. She's running because of her "kind heart."
- She's worried about her sister, and is so pleased with herself that even though she's "out of breath," she's still laughing on the inside.