I Travelled among unknown men (1807) by William Wordsworth

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I Travelled among unknown men (1807) by William Wordsworth

“I Travelled among Unknown Men” (1807) by William Wordsworth is another of his Lucy poems, written after Lucy’s death.

The central idea of the poem is Wordsworth’s deep love for both his native England and for Lucy, whose memory is inseparably tied to the English landscape. He begins by saying that he realized the depth of his attachment to England only when he was away in foreign lands. 

England, with its familiar rivers and hills, holds his heart in a way no other place can. In the final stanza, he connects this patriotic feeling with personal grief: it was in England, by Lucy’s grave, that he fully recognized how deeply his love for her was rooted.

The poem thus fuses personal love and national identity, showing how Lucy and England together embody his emotional and spiritual home.

____________________________-


I travelled among unknown men,
In lands beyond the sea;
Nor, England! did I know till then
What love I bore to thee.

'Tis past, that melancholy dream!
Nor will I quit thy shore
A second time; for still I seem
To love thee more and more.

Among thy mountains did I feel
The joy of my desire;
And she I cherished turned her wheel
Beside an English fire.

Thy mornings showed, thy nights concealed,
The bowers where Lucy played;
And thine too is the last green field
That Lucy's eyes surveyed.




_______________________________________


Stanza 1

  • Wordsworth begins by recalling his travels in foreign lands (“among unknown men / in lands beyond the sea”). The phrase “unknown men” suggests strangers, people outside his own culture and nation.

  • During these travels, he comes to a realization: he had not truly understood the depth of his love for England until he was far away from it.

  • The direct address “England!” conveys affection and reverence, showing his patriotic emotion.

  • This stanza sets up the central theme: sometimes absence deepens attachment—just as being away from Lucy (in other Lucy poems) heightens his love for her, so too being away from England makes him recognize his deep bond with his homeland.

✨ In short: Wordsworth realizes, through the experience of travel, that his love for England was stronger than he ever knew, a love revealed only in separation.


Stanza 2

  • “’Tis past, that melancholy dream!” → The “melancholy dream” refers to his earlier experience of leaving England and realizing his love only in absence. That period of sorrow and longing is now over.

  • “Nor will I quit thy shore / A second time” → Wordsworth resolves not to leave England again. The first separation taught him the pain of absence, and he is determined not to repeat it.

  • “for still I seem / To love thee more and more” → His affection for England continues to grow. Even while staying, the memory of loss deepens his bond, and his love is now conscious and ever-increasing.

✨ In short: Wordsworth dismisses his earlier sorrow of exile and pledges to remain in England, because his love for his homeland keeps strengthening, making departure unbearable.


Stanza 3

  • “Among thy mountains did I feel / The joy of my desire;” → Wordsworth recalls that in England’s natural landscapes, especially its mountains, he experienced the pure joy he longed for. Nature in his homeland fulfills his heart’s deepest desire.

  • “And she I cherished turned her wheel / Beside an English fire.” → This refers to Lucy, the woman he loved and celebrated in his poetry. The image of her spinning yarn at a wheel beside a warm English hearth links her with domestic simplicity, peace, and the beauty of English rural life.

✨ In essence: The stanza blends two sources of joy for Wordsworth — England’s mountains (Nature) and Lucy (personal love and companionship). Both are bound up with his sense of “home” and intensify his emotional attachment to England.


Stanza 4

  • “Thy mornings showed, thy nights concealed, / The bowers where Lucy played;” → Wordsworth imagines England’s mornings and nights alternately revealing and hiding the natural places (“bowers” = leafy shelters, quiet retreats) where Lucy once lived, moved, and played. This ties her presence deeply to the English landscape itself.

  • “And thine too is the last green field / That Lucy’s eyes surveyed.” → England is not only the place of Lucy’s life but also the place of her death. The last earthly sight Lucy had was an English field, which sanctifies the land for Wordsworth.

Central Idea of the Ending:

The poem closes by merging patriotism with personal grief. England becomes sacred to Wordsworth not only because it is beautiful and his homeland, but also because it holds Lucy’s memory and was the scene of her final moments. His love for Lucy intensifies his devotion to England.


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