In three stanzas, Wordsworth mourns Lucy, a girl who lived unnoticed in the countryside and died unknown. It is the best-known of the "Lucy poems" and a strong text for teaching metaphor, contrast and elegy. This free worksheet has the full poem with numbered lines, vocabulary, five discussion questions, a writing prompt and an answer key. No signup needed.
Grades 8–10 · Common Core RL.8.4, RL.8.2, RL.8.5 · US Letter PDF, with an answer key on the last page
What’s on the worksheet
Wordsworth wrote this poem in 1798; it was published in Lyrical Ballads (1800). It is one of five "Lucy poems." No one knows if Lucy was a real person. The poem is an elegy, a poem of mourning, in three quatrains.
Vocabulary
- dwelt: lived
- untrodden: rarely walked on; remote
- Dove: a river in England
- Maid: a young girl or unmarried woman
- mossy: covered with moss
- ceased to be: died
Discussion questions
- Where did Lucy live, and how many people knew or loved her?
- Explain the metaphor in "A violet by a mossy stone / Half hidden from the eye!"
- How does the star simile in lines 7–8 differ from the violet image?
- What does "When Lucy ceased to be" mean? Why might the poet put it so gently?
- How does the last line change the tone of the poem?
Writing prompt
Write a short tribute (poem or paragraph) to someone or something that few people notice but that matters to you. Use one image from nature to describe them.
The answer key is included in the PDF, on its own page for teachers.