The Lucy Poems are a group of five lyrical works by William Wordsworth, written between 1798 and 1801. They reflect themes of nature, love, beauty, and loss, centered around a mysterious girl named Lucy. The five poems include: “Strange fits of passion have I known,” “She dwelt among the untrodden ways,” “I travelled among unknown men,” “Three years she grew in sun and shower,” and “A slumber did my spirit seal.” Set against natural landscapes, these poems highlight Lucy’s purity and the sorrow of her untimely death. They remain some of Wordsworth’s most poignant reflections on human emotion and mortality.
I Travelled among Unknown Men: Multiple Choice Questions
- Who is the author of the poem “I Travelled among Unknown Men”?
a) Samuel Taylor Coleridge
b) Lord Byron
c) William Wordsworth
d) John Keats
Answer: c) William Wordsworth - In what collection was “I Travelled among Unknown Men” primarily published?
a) Songs of Innocence
b) The Excursion
c) Lyrical Ballads, with Other Poems (second edition)
d) Miscellaneous Poems
Answer: d) Miscellaneous Poems (Note: While part of the broader ‘Lucy Poems’ sequence, this specific poem was published later in his ‘Miscellaneous Poems’ in 1807, not the 1800 ‘Lyrical Ballads’ like some others.) - What is the approximate publication year of the collection that includes this poem?
a) 1798
b) 1800
c) 1807
d) 1814
Answer: c) 1807 - Where did the speaker travel in the first line?
a) Among his known friends
b) Among unknown men
c) To familiar cities
d) To his hometown
Answer: b) Among unknown men - What kind of lands did the speaker travel to?
a) Lands nearby
b) Lands across the sea
c) Mountainous lands
d) Desert lands
Answer: b) Lands across the sea - What realization did the speaker have about England only after traveling?
a) Its beauty
b) What love I bore to thee
c) Its historical significance
d) Its weather
Answer: b) What love I bore to thee - How does the speaker describe his past journey in the second stanza?
a) A joyful adventure
b) A triumphant quest
c) That melancholy dream!
d) A necessary evil
Answer: c) That melancholy dream! - What does the speaker vow never to do a second time?
a) Travel abroad
b) Quit England’s shore
c) Think of Lucy
d) Feel joy
Answer: b) Quit England’s shore - Why does the speaker feel he will not quit England’s shore again?
a) Because he is too old
b) For still I seem to love thee more and more
c) Because he has no money
d) Due to political reasons
Answer: b) For still I seem to love thee more and more - Where did the speaker feel “the joy of my desire”?
a) Among the foreign cities
b) On the open sea
c) Among England’s mountains
d) In Lucy’s cottage
Answer: c) Among England’s mountains - What was “she I cherished” doing “Beside an English fire”?
a) Reading a book
b) Turning her wheel
c) Singing a song
d) Sleeping
Answer: b) Turning her wheel - What did England’s mornings show and its nights conceal?
a) Hidden treasures
b) The bowers where Lucy played
c) Future events
d) Distant stars
Answer: b) The bowers where Lucy played - What is “the last green field” mentioned in the final lines?
a) A field the speaker owns
b) The field where Lucy was born
c) A field that Lucy’s eyes surveyed
d) A field of battle
Answer: c) A field that Lucy’s eyes surveyed - What is the central theme of the poem?
a) The longing for foreign travel
b) Patriotism rekindled by absence and the memory of a loved one
c) The beauty of distant lands
d) The sorrow of loneliness
Answer: b) Patriotism rekindled by absence and the memory of a loved one - What is the rhyme scheme of the poem?
a) AABB CCDD EEFF GGHH
b) ABAB CDCD EFEF GHGH
c) ABCB DEFE GHGH IJIJ
d) AAAA BBBB CCCC DDDD
Answer: b) ABAB CDCD EFEF GHGH - To what series of poems does “I Travelled among Unknown Men” belong?
a) The River Duddon Sonnets
b) The Lucy Poems
c) The Immortality Odes
d) The Tintern Abbey poems
Answer: b) The Lucy Poems - The speaker’s realization of his love for England comes through:
a) His interactions with its people
b) His journey away from it
c) Reading books about it
d) Observing its nature closely
Answer: b) His journey away from it - The phrase “that melancholy dream!” suggests the speaker’s foreign travels were:
a) Exciting and fulfilling
b) Depressing or unfulfilling
c) Long and tedious
d) Full of joy and adventure
Answer: b) Depressing or unfulfilling - The act of “turning her wheel” typically refers to:
a) Driving a carriage
b) Spinning yarn
c) Turning a water wheel
d) A metaphor for changing fortune
Answer: b) Spinning yarn - The “bowers where Lucy played” evoke an image of:
a) A playground in a city
b) Secluded, leafy natural shelters
c) Formal gardens
d) Sports arenas
Answer: b) Secluded, leafy natural shelters
- What does “bore” mean in “What love I bore to thee”?
a) Carried or held
b) Tolerated
c) Gave birth to
d) Drilled a hole
Answer: a) Carried or held - What does “quit” mean in “Nor will I quit thy shore”?
a) Stay on
b) Leave or depart from
c) Fight for
d) Visit often
Answer: b) Leave or depart from - What does “lea” refer to (though not explicitly in this poem, it’s a common Wordsworthian term related to “bowers”)?
a) A forest
b) A cultivated field
c) A meadow or open grassland
d) A body of water
Answer: c) A meadow or open grassland - What does “cherished” mean in “she I cherished”?
a) Disliked
b) Held dear; loved
c) Followed
d) Ignored
Answer: b) Held dear; loved - What are “bowers” in the context of the poem?
a) Musical instruments
b) Arbors or leafy shelters, often in a garden
c) Areas for archery
d) Bridges
Answer: b) Arbors or leafy shelters, often in a garden - What does “surveyed” mean in “Lucy’s eyes surveyed”?
a) Ignored
b) Measured the area of
c) Examined or looked over
d) Constructed
Answer: c) Examined or looked over
- “Nor, England! did I know till then / What love I bore to thee.” This address to England is an example of:
a) Simile
b) Metaphor
c) Apostrophe (addressing an absent person or abstract idea)
d) Hyperbole
Answer: c) Apostrophe (addressing an absent person or abstract idea) - “That melancholy dream!” when referring to his travels, is an example of:
a) Euphemism
b) Litotes
c) Metaphor (travels are directly compared to a dream)
d) Oxymoron
Answer: c) Metaphor (travels are directly compared to a dream) - The phrase “still I seem / To love thee more and more” uses:
a) Understatement
b) Repetition (of “more”) for emphasis
c) Allusion
d) Irony
Answer: b) Repetition (of “more”) for emphasis - “Among thy mountains did I feel / The joy of my desire” implies a strong connection between:
a) Physical sensation and intellectual thought
b) Natural landscape and emotional experience
c) Social interaction and personal happiness
d) Solitude and loneliness
Answer: b) Natural landscape and emotional experience - “Thy mornings showed, thy nights concealed” is an example of:
a) Paradox
b) Antithesis (contrast between showing and concealing, mornings and nights)
c) Personification (mornings/nights performing actions)
d) All of the above
Answer: d) All of the above (It uses antithesis of showing/concealing and mornings/nights, and personification as mornings/nights are given the ability to show/conceal.) - The poem’s connection of Lucy to the English landscape (“Thy mornings showed… the bowers where Lucy played; And thine too is the last green field that Lucy’s eyes surveyed”) uses Lucy as a symbol of:
a) England’s political history
b) The speaker’s personal connection to his homeland
c) Universal beauty
d) Lost youth
Answer: b) The speaker’s personal connection to his homeland - The poem is generally considered an example of:
a) Epic poetry
b) A dramatic monologue
c) A lyric poem (short, expressive, emotional)
d) A narrative ballad
Answer: c) A lyric poem (short, expressive, emotional)
- What effect did the speaker’s foreign travel have on his perception of England?
a) He disliked England more.
b) He realized a deeper love for England.
c) He became indifferent to England.
d) He found new reasons to leave England.
Answer: b) He realized a deeper love for England. - The poem suggests that true appreciation for something often comes through:
a) Constant presence
b) Distance and absence
c) Scientific study
d) Public opinion
Answer: b) Distance and absence - Lucy’s presence in the poem (implied in the third and fourth stanzas) serves to:
a) Complicate the speaker’s journey
b) Ground the speaker’s love for England in a personal, cherished memory
c) Introduce a new character
d) Show her independence
Answer: b) Ground the speaker’s love for England in a personal, cherished memory - The phrase “Beyond the sea” indicates the speaker’s travels were:
a) Within England
b) To continental Europe or other distant lands
c) Restricted to coastal areas
d) Imaginary
Answer: b) To continental Europe or other distant lands - The tone of the first two stanzas is one of:
a) Regret and resolution
b) Excitement and anticipation
c) Confusion and uncertainty
d) Nostalgia and longing
Answer: a) Regret and resolution - The poem connects love of country with:
a) Economic prosperity
b) Political power
c) Personal attachment to its landscapes and memories
d) Military strength
Answer: c) Personal attachment to its landscapes and memories - What is the emotional state of the speaker by the end of the poem?
a) Unresolved longing
b) Firm devotion to England, linked to Lucy’s memory
c) Detached observation
d) Renewed desire for travel
Answer: b) Firm devotion to England, linked to Lucy’s memory - The poem highlights a common theme in Romantic literature, which is the idea of:
a) Urbanization and industry
b) The sublime terror of nature
c) The profound connection between humans and nature, especially the homeland
d) Rational thought as supreme
Answer: c) The profound connection between humans and nature, especially the homeland - The simple language and clear imagery are characteristic of Wordsworth’s attempt to:
a) Appeal only to educated readers
b) Make poetry accessible to common readers and convey deep emotion directly
c) Hide complex meanings
d) Imitate classical styles
Answer: b) Make poetry accessible to common readers and convey deep emotion directly - The “English fire” is a symbol of:
a) Industry
b) Warmth, home, and domestic comfort
c) Destruction
d) Political unrest
Answer: b) Warmth, home, and domestic comfort - The poem’s structure (four quatrains) gives it a sense of:
a) An epic narrative
b) A concise, reflective meditation
c) A dramatic scene
d) A complex argument
Answer: b) A concise, reflective meditation - What does the speaker imply about the foreign lands he visited?
a) They were more beautiful than England.
b) They made him realize England’s unique charm.
c) They were dangerous.
d) He formed new attachments there.
Answer: b) They made him realize England’s unique charm. - The speaker’s statement “Nor will I quit thy shore / A second time” shows:
a) His financial limitations
b) His renewed and unwavering commitment to England
c) His fear of travel
d) His desire for isolation
Answer: b) His renewed and unwavering commitment to England - The mention of Lucy at the end of the poem reinforces the idea that:
a) She is still alive and well.
b) She is a part of the English landscape and memories that tie him to his homeland.
c) She represents his future.
d) She is a figure of purely abstract beauty.
Answer: b) She is a part of the English landscape and memories that tie him to his homeland. - The poem can be seen as an expression of:
a) Xenophobia
b) A deep, personal patriotism
c) A desire for adventure
d) Discontent with domestic life
Answer: b) A deep, personal patriotism - What effect does the use of “Thy” (an archaic form of “your”) have on the tone?
a) It makes it sound overly formal and distant.
b) It adds a sense of reverence and intimacy to the address to England.
c) It creates confusion.
d) It makes the poem sound outdated.
Answer: b) It adds a sense of reverence and intimacy to the address to England. - The poem, like other Lucy poems, deals with themes of:
a) Urban growth
b) Idealized female figures and their connection to nature
c) Political commentary
d) Scientific discovery
Answer: b) Idealized female figures and their connection to nature