"Lucy Gray" is a poem written by William Wordsworth in 1799 and published in his Lyrical Ballads.

It describes the
death of a young girl named Lucy Gray, who went out one evening into a storm. Lucy Gray is the lyrical story of a
very lonely girl, a lover of nature and apparently full of kindness and innocence. She lived with her parents in a
faraway valley, seemingly in isolation.

Oft I had heard of Lucy Gray, At day-break on a hill they stood

And, when I crossed the Wild, That overlooked the Moor;
I chanced to see at break of day And thence they saw the Bridge of Wood
The solitary Child. A furlong from their door.

No mate, no comrade Lucy knew; They wept, and turning homeward cried
She dwelt on a wide Moor, "In Heaven we all shall meet!"
-The sweetest Thing that ever grew When in the snow the Mother spied
Beside a human door! the print of Lucy's feet.

You yet may spy the Fawn at play, Then downward from the steep hill's edge
The Hare upon the Green;
They tracked the footmarks small;
But the sweet face of Lucy Gray
And through the broken hawthorn-hedge,
Will never more be seen.
And by the long stone-wall;
“To-night will be a stormy night,
You to the Town must go, And then an open field they crossed,
And take the lantern, Child, to light The marks were still the same;
Your Mother through the snow.” They tracked them on, nor ever lost,
And to the Bridge they came.
“That, Father! Will I gladly do;
‘This scarcely afternoon- They followed from the snowy bank
The Minster-clock had just struck two, The footmarks, one by one,
And yonder is the moon.” Into the middle of the plank,
And further there were none.
At this the Father raised his hook
And snapp'd a faggot-band;
Yet some maintain that to this day
He plied his work – and Lucy look
The lantern in her hand. She is a living Child,
That you may see sweet Lucy Gray
Not blither is the mountain roe; Upon the lonesome Wild.
With many a wanton stroke
Her feet disperse the powdery snow, Over rough and smooth she trips along,
That rises up like smoke. And never looks behind;
And sings a solitary song
The storm came on before its time, That whistles in the wind.
She wander'd up and down,
And many a hill did Lucy climb
But never reach'd the Town.

The wrecked Parents all that night

Went shouting far and wide;
But there was neither sound nor sight
To serve them for a guide.
The poem "Lucy Gray" tells the story of an innocent child named Lucy Gray who lives far from society in a
cottage on the moors. One winter day, Lucy's father sends her off to town with a lantern to meet her
mother. Unfortunately, Lucy gets lost in a snowstorm and never reaches town. The next day, Lucy's
parents search for her throughout the wilderness and end up following her footprints in the snow. Lucy's
parents track her footprints to a wooden bridge where her footprints suddenly disappear. Lucy's body is
never recovered, but some people still maintain that they see her spirit as they walk through the forest.

Two of the main themes throughout Wordsworth's poem concern nature and the loss of a loved one.
Lucy not only lives away from society on the moors, but she also travels through the wilderness. It is
suggested that she enjoys nature because people claim to hear her playfully whistling on her journey to
town. Lucy is depicted as an innocent child who enjoys the natural environment. Also, Wordsworth
examines the loss of a loved one throughout the poem. Lucy's parents are concerned about their
daughter's well-being when she does not arrive in town. The next day they search through the forest and
are devastated to discover that Lucy's footprints end on the bridge.

Any readers familiar with William Wordsworth’s poetry know that the death of a child is a common
theme throughout his works. Wordsworth suffered the loss of his own son and daughter, and those
deaths seem to forever haunt him. His works of poetry are filled with themes of death. Sometimes, he
finds comfort in thoughts of the afterlife. Other times, he despairs. In his poem, “Strange Fits of Passion”,
he describes the crippling fear of losing the one he loves. Throughout his poetry, the name Lucy nearly
always refers to one he loved and lost. Sometimes, Lucy symbolizes a lover, and other times she
symbolizes the pure and innocent love a father has for his daughter. Many critics have argued over the
identity of Lucy, but most have concluded that she does not represent one single person. Rather, she is a
character comprised of all the people that Wordsworth ever loved and lost. Critics have referred to five
of Wordsworth’s poems as the “Lucy Poems”. These include, “Strange Fits of Passion have I Known’, “She
Dwelt Among Untrodden Ways”, “I Traveled Among Unknown Men”, “Three Years She Grew in Sun and
Shower” and “A Slumber Did my Spirit Seal”.

This particular poem, Lucy Gray, was written sometime after his other “Lucy” poems and is not often
grouped with the others. Critics have not been able to come to a decisive stance on the identity of Lucy,
and those who knew Wordsworth best claim that he was very elusive when asked about her. All that can
be gathered about Lucy from his poems suggest that she represents more than one person, and that she
is the combined representation of all the people that Wordsworth had loved and lost. She seems to
possess a supernatural perfection, a flawlessness of character. Her spirit seems to haunt Wordsworth,
and he dwells upon her. The sheer number of poems which mention her reveal that he was forever
thinking about her, or those whom she represents.

Summary and Development of Thought in the Poem:

The poem Lucy Gray was written by William Wordsworth based upon a real account of death of a little
girl narrated to him by his sister Dorothy. In the poem the poet portraits imagery of a little solitary girl
who lived in a house in valley with her father and mother. As she did not have any friend, her most of time
was spent in playing alone or helping her parents. Wordsworth further progress by adding that one can
get a chance to see a fawn or a rabbit while passing through those valleys (which are usually hard to trace)
but you will never be able to see the innocent face of Lucy Gray.
Now Wordsworth takes us back to the sad incident. It was an afternoon and Lucy was at home with her
father. Her mother had gone to the town. Her father took his hook and started to pile bundle and
instructed Lucy to take the lantern and bring her mother safe before evening because they were
anticipation storm. She left for the town but against expected time, the storm arose earlier and Lucy lost
the way. She searched for the way back to home but could never find. Her mother came back home.
Worried her parents explored the entire valley whole night to catch a sight of Lucy but she was nowhere
found.
At the break of the day her parents found patterns of Lucy’s small feet in the snow. They started following
those footprints which led them to bridge of the wood which was only a furlong far from there house and
after that prints disappeared. It was indication that Lucy had died. Her parents lament for her. The dearest
child of the nature was gone. But it is still in belief that Lucy is alive and sings her solitary song in the valley.
Noticeable in this poem is that Wordsworth has not stresses upon death of Lucy but after her death her
fusion with the nature. He has tries to associate boundaries of birth and death by this beautiful and
calamitous ballad. Wordsworth as a poet of nature, in this poem has associated the action of death with
the nature. After the death of Lucy also it is believed that she is alive and her song whistles in the air in
the valley as if she has become part of the nature. Beautiful imagery, similes are quite seen as the very
flair of William Wordsworth.
Comments and Critical Appreciation of the Poem:
Lucy Gray was written by Sir William Wordsworth in 1799 and published in the second edition of ‘Lyrical
Ballad’, collection of poems by William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge in 1800. The poem states
story of a little girl named Lucy Gray who died early on a story night in countryside. She lived somewhere
in western countryside with her parents. The clue of living in Western Countryside is given in lines ‘The
minster-clock has just struck two, /And yonder is the moon!" moon is visible during day time there. She
had a small family and no friends. As a solitary child’ she had no mate or someone to talk, ply or share.
Poem Lucy Gray starts with the reference to a popular story of Lucy Gray. Wordsworth has represented
Lucy as a child of nature. We can notice in the poem Lucy perhaps, often used to help her parents in small
house works because when her mother goes out of the town, her father sends her to fetch her mother.
But when storm comes before expected time, Lucy lost her way keep searching for the right path and
mysteriously dies. Death of an innocent lonely child hits reader deep and leaves an impact of sorrow. In
the end of the poem the poet takes help of supernatural theory to keep Lucy alive in hearts. People still
believe that Lucy is not dead and her spirit roams and sings the songs which whistles in the air. This
supernatural theme indicates how strongly Lucy was attached to her town and singing her solitary song
implies how lonely she was. Tragic end of the poem leaves an everlasting impact on the readers.
The ballad is written lyrically. A scenic view stands in front of the eyes while reading the poem and imagery
is widely used but nowhere seems to be in the excess. Unfortunate death of the little girl in the end of the
poem and then keeping her alive in the hearts with the help of supernatural elements is the very own
style of Wordsworth.
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"Lucy Gray" is both a ballad, telling the story of the death of a young girl named Lucy Gray in verse form,
and a meditation on death itself. The narrative or ballad is based on a story Wordsworth heard from his
sister Dorothy of a little girl lost in a snowstorm. As Wordsworth's idea in the Lyrical Ballads, the 1799
book of poetry in which this poem appeared, was to write about nature, the supernatural, and the
common people in simple language, this poem was an ideal fit: in it Lucy, a solitary child of nature and
daughter of ordinary folk, becomes a symbol of nature as well as a spirit that may roam the earth after
death.

Children died often in this period, and in the nineteenth century their deaths were often the subject of
poems. In this poem, by leaving the nature of Lucy's death somewhat mysterious—all we learn is her
footsteps on a bridge suddenly stop on a "plank"—and by having "some maintain that to this day / she is
a living child," the poet raises questions about the nature of death. Does some essence of a person's spirit
get left behind after they die, especially if the person was as closely tied to nature as Lucy Gray? Do the
villagers really see her "upon the lonesome wild" of the landscape or hear her voice in the wind, or is this
only their imagination? The theme of imagination was especially important to the Romantic poets, and
the poem implicitly appreciates the idea of remembering and imagining this little girl as part of the natural
world. Further, the Romantics liked to explore the relationship of the soul to nature, and other writers,
such as Emily Brontë, explore the theme of a person so tied to a natural spot that after death their soul
stays on it. By recording that people still see and hear Lucy Gray, the poet argues that part of her remains
behind after her death. Whether this is real or imaginary is up to the reader to decide.

Story of Lucy Gray in simple words

Lucy Gray was a beautiful little girl. She had no friends to play with and lived in Wild moor with her parents.
One day her mother went to the town for shopping. In the evening her father told her to go to the town
to bring her mother back. He also told her to take a lantern with her o light her mother’s way through
snow storm.
Lucy Gray at once obeyed his order and set out for town. When she was on the way the storm had come
before it was expected. Lucy could not see her way due to snow. She wandered here and there and at last
died in the snow.
Her parents searched her all night but all in vain. At last they found foot prints in the middle of a wooden
bridge. Perhaps she slipped through it and died. Some people think that she is still alive and has become
a part a nature. She sings a solitary song that whistles in the wind.