A slumber did my Spirit Seal

A slumber did my Spirit Seal

• 1.
  William Wordsworth
• 2.
  Born: 7 April1770 Died: 23 April 1850 Literary Movement: Romanticism Contemporaries: Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William Blake Notable Works: Lyrical Ballads, Poems inTwo Volumes,The Excursion,The Prelude
• 3.
  "A slumber didmy spirit seal" is a poem written by William Wordsworth in 1798 and published in the 1800 edition of Lyrical Ballads. It is usually included as one of his Lucy poems, although it is the only poem of the series not to mention her name.
• 4.
   During theautumn of 1798, Wordsworth travelled to Germany with his sister Dorothy and fellow poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge. From October 1798, Wordsworth worked on the first drafts for his "Lucy poems". which included "Strange fits of passion have I known", "She dwelt among the untrodden ways" and "A slumber".
• 5.
   In December1798, Wordsworth sent copies of "Strange fits" and "She dwelt" to Coleridge and followed his letter with "A slumber". Eventually, "A slumber", was published in the 1800 edition of Lyrical Ballads.
• 6.
   Unique amongstLucy poems, "A slumber" does not directly mention Lucy. The decision by critics to include the poem as part of the series is based in part on Wordsworth's placing it in close proximity to "Strange fits" and directly after "She dwelt" in the Lyrical Ballads.
• 7.
  A Slumber DidMy Spirit Seal
• 8.
  A slumber didmy spirit seal; I had no human fears: She seemed a thing that could not feel The touch of earthly years.
• 9.
  No motion hasshe now, no force; She neither hears nor sees; Rolled round in earth's diurnal course, With rocks, and stones, and trees.
• 10.
  A Slumber DidMy Spirit Seal
• 11.
  A slumber did myspirit seal; I had no human fears: She seemed a thing that could not feel The touch of earthly years.  In the first of the poem's two stanzas, the speaker declares that a "slumber" has kept him from realizing reality. In essence, he has been in a dream-like state, devoid of any common fears. To the speaker, "she" seemed like she
• 12.
   My Spirit:The poet’s power of realizing the reality.  Human Fears: Common fears of pain, sorrow and death faced by man.  The touch of earthly years: The human attribute of growing older with the passage of time.
• 13.
  No motion has shenow, no force; She neither hears nor sees; Rolled round in earth's diurnal course, With rocks, and stones, and  In the second and final stanza, however, we learn that she has died. She lies still and can no longer see or hear. She has become a part of the day-to-day course of the
• 14.
   Earth’s DiurnalCourse: Earth’s daily rotation.  With rocks, stones and trees: Along with all the material wealth of earth; a part of earth.
• 15.
  A Slumber DidMy Spirit Seal
• 16.
  The End