Response to Wordsworth's, "We Are Seven"

Stylistically, William Wordsworth’s “We Are Seven” holds true to technique of the romantics. The story is laid out in simple terms. One mustn’t sit there, dictionary in hand, dissecting every element of each line in order to understand what is going on. Absent are many of the techniques and stylistic dress-ups of classic poetry. Even the meter seems to fade into the background, as the reader moves from verse to verse. The poems makeup, the simplicity and authenticity of it all, really appealed to me. I found myself enjoying each line rather than puzzling over what it all meant.

In the preface to “Lyrical Ballads”, Wordsworth say’s that each of his poems are to have meaning. Meaning above and beyond what may be “literally” going on in any given poem. “We Are Seven” is no exception. There are two contrasting attitudes that clash throughout the poem. That of the aged, intellectual man and that of the innocent girl. Again and again the man attempts to point out that the brother and sister in question are in fact dead. “If two are in the church-yard laid, then ye are only five,” he says. But each stab at “reason” is met with the persistent rebuttal of the girl. “O Master! we are seven,” she insists.

While reason unequivocally leans in favor of the intellectual man, I found myself siding with girl throughout the 17 verses of “We Are Seven”. The authenticity of the girl’s belief really stuck with me. So genuine and persistent, her attitude at times seemed to convince me that there might be some truth to her claims. And then the aged man’s voice of reason would bring me back to reality. The poem ends in a stalemate, neither side being able to sway the beliefs of the other. Ultimately I found myself divided as well, my heart wanting to believe that there were seven while my mind told me that in fact there were only