How we cite our quotes: (Line)
Quote #1
——A simple Child,
That lightly draws its breath,
And feels its life in every limb,
What should it know of death? (1-4)
The poem begins by asking an abstract question: what can a "simple" child know about death? How can someone so young and so alive understand something so big and horrible?
Quote #2
I met a little cottage Girl:
She was eight years old, she said;
Her hair was thick with many a curl
That clustered round her head.She had a rustic, woodland air,
And she was wildly clad:
Her eyes were fair, and very fair;
—Her beauty made me glad. (5-12)
The speaker describes the little girl as beautiful. She has curly hair and fair skin. She's the very picture of innocence. Or is she? Is Wordsworth about to undo our expectations?
Quote #3
"Sisters and brothers, little Maid,
How many may you be?"
"How many? Seven in all," she said,
And wondering looked at me."And where are they? I pray you tell."
She answered, "Seven are we;
And two of us at Conway dwell,
And two are gone to sea."Two of us in the church-yard lie,
My sister and my brother;
And, in the church-yard cottage, I
Dwell near them with my mother." (13-24)
These stanzas let us in on the truth about the little girl: she's not that innocent, though not in the Britney Spears kinda way. This girl is not that innocent because she's already experienced great trauma in her young life: the death of two of her siblings.