Lucy
Lucy is the main character of the Lucy Poems, although she is only mentioned and never appears as a speaker. Wordsworth portrays her as a young maiden who lived an unremarkable and isolated life near the River Dove in the English midlands. She carries a quiet grace, but might well be seen frolicking with glee. Although blessed with beauty, she never had many suitors due to the distance she kept between herself and others. She died young, and though her passing went unnoticed and unremarked by many, it forever and profoundly changed the life of the speaker—one who loved her from afar.
The speaker/poet
The speaker is generally assumed to be Wordsworth, as there is an underlying supposition that Lucy may have been based on a real person with a different name. Alternatively, she may represent several women from the poet's life. The poet conveys how her death has separated his life into two different worlds, and the world following her death is completely different. In addition, the poet comes to regard Lucy as the embodiment of everything he loves about England. Following an extended trip to several foreign countries, he realizes how much he loves his home country and vows never to leave again. When he thinks of England, he thinks of Lucy. His homeland and the woman he loved are viewed as one and considered, as a whole, his true home.
Nature
In "Three years she grew in sun and shower," nature is personified and has the ability to speak. Nature claims Lucy as a child and in three years transforms her into a beautiful and mature woman. Nature may also be seen as the villain of the poems. Once Lucy has been made into a perfect work of art, nature plays a cruel trick on the speaker by taking Lucy away from him forever.
