ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -Answer and Explanation: In the series of five Luc poems, Lucy Gray does don’t represent a single historical person rather she is an amalgamation of significant women in Wordsworth’s life and represents the ideal feminine must.

Detailed explanation-2: -Moorman suggests that Lucy may represent Wordsworth’s romantic interest Mary Hutchinson, but wonders why she would be represented as one who died. It is possible that Wordsworth was thinking of Margaret Hutchinson, Mary’s sister who had died.

Detailed explanation-3: -Lucy is an English feminine given name derived from the Latin masculine given name Lucius with the meaning as of light (born at dawn or daylight, maybe also shiny, or of light complexion). Alternative spellings are Luci, Luce, Lucie, Lucia, and Luzia.

Detailed explanation-4: -Throughout his poetry, the name Lucy nearly always refers to one he loved and lost. Sometimes, Lucy symbolizes a lover, and other times she symbolizes the pure and innocent love a father has for his daughter.

Detailed explanation-5: -As a representative Romanic device, the lyrical voice compares the beauty of nature to the grace of Lucy. She is likened to “A violet by a mossy stone/ Half hidden from the eye” and to a fair star “when only one/Is shining in the sky”. These comparisons serve to exemplify Lucy as an embodiment of all beauty.