"Strange fits of passion" is about a man and his horse—or at least a man on his horse. Sure, he's on his way to visit his beloved, but it's telling that we never actually get to see this Lucy (if that is her real name). Instead, we're treated to scenes of our speaker, clip-clopping on horseback through the countryside. He passes fields and orchards as he does so, making his way through the dark of night by keeping an eye on a sinking moon. Essentially, then, the plot of the poem involves a guy making his way through the natural world. And if you know anything about Wordsworth or his fellow British Romantics—who turned to nature for their inspiration and subject matter—this comes as absolutely no surprise.
Questions About Man and the Natural World
- What is the significance of the moon in this poem? What parts of the poem give you your ideas?
- Why do you think the speaker is travelling at night? How does that affect the mood of the poem?
- How might this poem be different if it were set in a city?
Chew on This
Wordsworth uses the elements of the natural world to emphasize the speaker's anxiety about losing his beloved Lucy.
The poem uses its natural setting to emphasize the purity of the speaker's love for Lucy.