A Slumber Did My Spirit Seal
By William Wordsworth

About the Poet

Image: owlcation.com

William Wordsworth was born on April 7, 1770, in Cockermouth, Cumberland in northwest England. In 1783, his father died, and the young Wordsworth became an orphan at thirteen. As Wordsworth grew older, he decided he might like to become a lawyer. Accordingly, in October 1787, he left his uncle’s home in Penrith and went to attend St. John’s College, Cambridge. He took his B.A. degree in 1791 and soon after made one of a series of visits to London. He next considered becoming a clergyman. However, after a year of postgraduate work, he decided to go to France, where he intended to learn more of the language and customs of France with the intention of becoming a tutor.

In 1802, Wordsworth married Mary Hutchinson, a friend from childhood. She bore him six children. The later years of his life were peaceful. He had been given a job in the civil service in 1813 and thereafter took the large house called Rydal Mount, near Grasmere, where he was to live the rest of his life. In 1842, he resigned his civic post and was awarded a pension.

Toward the end of his life, he knew much fame. He was welcomed everywhere as a celebrity. William Wordsworth died at home at Rydal Mount from an aggravated case of pleurisy on 23 April 1850, and was buried at St Oswald’s Church, Grasmere, Westmoreland, about twenty-five miles from his birthplace.

Source: en.wikipedia.com

Poem: A Slumber Did My Spirit Seal

A slumber did my spirit seal—
I had no human fears.
She seemed a thing that could not feel
The touch of earthly years.
No motion has she now, no force—
She neither hears nor sees,
Rolled round in earth’s diurnal course
With rocks and stones and trees.

William Wordsworth

Introduction

This poem is about the death of a loved one of the poet. The poet says that his soul has been sealed by the deep sleep of a lovely child whom he loved very much. But when he thinks that the child has become a part and parcel of nature, this gives him some relief and peace.

Summary

William Wordsworth loved a small imaginary girl Lucy very much. Her death put a great effect on him. The poet says that her deep sleep has made his soul a seal. Her death has made him so insensitive that he can’t realize human fears. He says that the child can’t have any feeling of this earthly time because she has died. Now she can’t hear or see anything. But the poet consoles himself with the thought that she has become a permanent part of nature. She moves in this cosmos as the earth does on its axes in a daily routine. She is moving with the rocks, stones and trees all the time.

Textual Questions

Q1. “A slumber did my spirit seal,” says the poet. That is, a deep sleep ‘closed off’ his soul (or mind). How does the poet react to his loved one’s death? Does he feel bitter grief? Or does he feel a great peace?

Ans. The poet’s reaction to his loved one’s death is not of bitter grief that he could shed out in the form of tears. On her death, he did not experience any human fears. He just looked at her and wondered how she looked and what she would experience later. He did not feel any fear. Therefore, it is difficult to say whether he is experiencing bitter grief or is in a peaceful state of mind.

Q2. The passing of time will no longer affect her, says the poet. Which lines of the poem say this?

Ans. The lines of the poem that show that the passing of time will no longer affect her are as follows:

“She seemed a thing that could not feel
The touch of earthy years.”

Q3. How does the poet imagine her to be, after death? Does he think of her as a person living in a very happy state (a ‘heaven’)? Or does he see her now as a part of nature? In which lines of the poem do you find your answer?

Ans. The poet thinks that she is now a part of nature. After her death, he imagines her buried inside the earth with other rocks, stones, and trees and rolling around with the earth in its daily rotation. The following lines express this idea:

Rolled round in earth’s diurnal course
With rocks and stones and trees.

Short Answer Type Questions

Q1. What did the slumber do to the poet’s spirit?
Ans. The slumber made the poet’s spirit seal.

Q2. What does ‘the slumber’ refer to in the first line?
Ans. It refers to the death of a lovely child named Lucy.

Q3. What had sealed the poet’s spirit?
Ans. The death of Lucy scaled the poet’s spirit.

Q4. Who does ‘I’ refer to in this stanza?
Ans. ‘I’ refers to the poet.

Q5. What can’t the poet realize?
Ans. The poet can’t realize human fears.

Q6. What is meant by ‘human fears’?
Ans. ‘Human fears’ mean the common worries and fears of mankind.

Q7. Who does ‘she’ refer to in this stanza?
Ans. ‘She’ refers to a lovely child Lucy who is dead now.

Q8. What could she not feel now?
Ans. She could not feel the touch of the time spent on this earth now.

Q9. Why can’t she hear or see?
Ans. She can’t see and hear because she is dead now.

Q10. What is meant by earth’s diurnal course’?
Ans. ‘Earth’s diurnal course’ means the daily movement of the earth around the sun.

Q11. What does she do now?
Ans. Now she moves all around in this cosmos as the earth does.

Q12. Explain the line ‘She seemed a thing that could not feel’?

Ans. It means that she is dead now. She has no sense of feeling any human emotions. She can’t be grieved or happy because she is a dead thing now

Q13. On the basis of reading this poem, how would you describe William Wordsworth?

Ans. In this poem, William Wordsworth’s deep love for nature has been expressed. He imagines that it is a point of relief and peace for him if someone near and dear becomes a part of nature after his/her death.

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