While
reading Wordsworth’s “We are Seven,” I was struck by a sense of familiarity
with the poem’s theme and use of memory, and after some rifling through my
notebook, I located his other poem “The Two April Mornings,” marveling at their
similarities. Although both are centered around an
adult’s interaction with a wildly beautiful child, the works are structured as
memories being retold, either to another character (“dear brother Jim”) or to
an unidentified audience.
Wordsworth investigates
the imaginative possibilities of memory, imbuing the factual happenings with
allegorical significance. In “The Two April Mornings,” whether the “blooming
girl” Matthew sees is real remains unclear, but I argue this point is
moot to Wordsworth, who would rather express the emotional impact
of the experience in the graveyard than historical fact. Though the
little girl in “We are Seven” is less ethereal, the poet still privileges the
emotions she elicits over an accurate narrative, an aim
perhaps stemming from Wordsworth’s close relationship with two of his siblings,
Dorothy and John. Intrigued by the memories created by familial deaths, Wordsworth
crafts two poems on this subject that are propelled by tensions between the solemnity
of death and the unspoiled beauty of childhood.
I also noticed the connection between the two Wordsworth poems when reading "We are Seven." As is common in romantic poems (and Wordsworth poems), both poems also have nature and death as central topics. I think it is interesting that he connects these two phenomenon so often. While death is obviously a natural process, he perceives nature as so static and perfect and hopeful, it seems counter-intuitive that he would connect these two things. However, I think both poems do a good job of explaining this because while there is obviously sadness involved, both deaths have a sense of "moving on" to be one with nature.
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