Poetry
Hayder Gebreen
I Travelled among Unknown Men تنقلت بين شعوب غريبه
وليم ويردزويرثBY WILLIAM WORDSWORTH
تنقلت بين شعوب غريبهُ
وطئت ترائب خلف البحار
ُ
، يا حبيبه،فأيقنت إذ ذاك كم
ألرضك أحمل عشقا ً ونار
وقد كان حلما ً كئيبا ً فولى
وعدت إليك مشوقا ً وبار
شواطيك لست أبارح كال
فحبك يكبر كل نهار
ُ
شعرت كم بينها قد،جبالك
بدفء الدثار،بمتعة رغبتي
ُ
كبرت وتلك التي في هواها
أدارت لها مغزالً قرب نار
نهارك يبدي وليلك يخفي
كروما ً رعتني ولوسي صغار
يخبي،وحقالً أخيراً رأت ُه
لوسي تحت الحجارَ بأرضك
Introduction: ‘The speaker of the poem is William Wordsworth himself. It is said
that this poem was conceived when he was visiting Germany. While there, he realized
the extent of his love for England. This poem was to be published with his works of
1801, but instead got published in 1807.
Summary: The speaker of the poem, William Wordsworth himself, says he travelled
among unknown men in foreign lands. Only when he did so, he realised the extent of
his love for his homeland, England. He says that he will never leave her shore for a
second time. Among the mountains, the speaker felt the joy of his desire. This is a
reference to Lucy. She was an Englishwoman. The speaker ends the poem by
speaking of Lucy’s death. The woman he loved was of England and for that, he loved
England more.
I travelled among unknown men,
In lands beyond the sea;
Nor, England! did I know till then
Poetry
Hayder Gebreen
What love I bore to thee.
The speaker begins the poem by saying that he travelled among unknown men in
lands beyond the sea. He is referring to Germany though ‘lands beyond the sea’. He
says he only realized his love for his homeland only when he was away. Absence
makes heart fonder; this is what the speaker is feeling.
'Tis past, that melancholy dream!
Nor will I quit thy shore
A second time; for still I seem
To love thee more and more.
The speaker is indicating his return to England. He compares his trip to foreign land
to a melancholic dream. He says that he stills love England more and more. The use
of ‘still’ in this stanza indicates of some event which could make him lose love for his
homeland. But he does not lose it; contrary to that, he still feels it growing 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.
The speaker says that he felt the joy of his desire in England’s mountains. Now, we
know from the rest of the poem that the person he speaks of is one ‘Lucy’. From this,
we can say that Lucy lived amidst mountains happily. And it was there in those
mountains, that the speaker felt her joy. The speaker then goes on to speak of all the
English that was part of Lucy.
Thy mornings showed, thy nights concealed,
The bowers where Lucy played;
And thine too is the last green field
That Lucy's eyes surveyed.
Lucy turned the wheel beside an English fire. The English sun showed the bowers
where Lucy played and the English nights hid them. And it was the English fields that
Poetry
Hayder Gebreen
Lucy last saw. he poem takes a turn from the speaker saying he missed his homeland
to the speaker speaking of Lucy. The ‘still’ used in the second stanza now makes
sense. England was where the speaker’s love, Lucy died and yet he found himself to
love England more and more. Wouldn’t the place of death of someone dear be a place
of sadness? Yet, the speaker’s feelings seem to go towards the opposite direction.
And the way he speaks of Lucy too indicates some hidden meaning. He says she was
his ‘desire’. He says he ‘cherished’ her. The words speak of an unapproachable and
hence, an unrequited love. But they can also be taken as easily in the opposite
way. For these paradoxes in this poem, and of such paradoxes in other poems too, the
existence of ‘Lucy’ was questioned. It is now said that Lucy is fictitious.
Central Idea: The central of the poem is to show the speaker’s homesickness. It is
also to show why the place is so dear to him.
Tone: The tone of the poem at the beginning is full of homesickeness. This turns to
sad and melancholic in the last two stanzas.
Poetic Devices in I Travelled Among Unknown Men
Structure: The poem is made of 4 stanzas of 4 lines each.
Rhyme: The poem has a regular rhyme scheme of ABAB. The last words of first and
third lines, and of second and fourth lines rhyme with each other.
Repetition: There is some repetition in the last line of the second stanza in the form
of ‘more and more’. The name is repeated in the last stanza.
Alliteration: There is some alliteration in the third line of the second stanza; ‘A
second time; for still I seem’.
Foreshadowing: ‘Tis past, that melancholy dream!’ is a foreshadowing of Lucy’s
death told of in the last stanza.
Imagery: There is some imagery in the last stanza. We can see Lucy sitting under a
cool shade of a tree, looking out at the wide green fields and playing.
Conclusion: William Wordsworth writes a beautiful and melancholic love poem in
which he talks of his love for his homeland, England and for his ‘love’, Lucy.
