Summary
Stanza 1: In the first stanza, the speaker describes how he has experienced a feeling to which he refers ambiguously as “strange fits of passion.” He claims that he would only share these experiences with his lover and no one else, while nonetheless confiding in the reader.
Stanza 2: The speaker reveals that he had a lover who looked “fresh as a rose” every day. He describes how at some point in the past, he made a trip to her cottage. The speaker describes a nocturnal setting with the poem’s first reference to the moon.
Stanza 3: The speaker continues to describe his journey that evening. He gazed upon the moon as well as the meadow he was crossing. His horse continued to ride faster and faster toward his lover’s cottage, bringing him closer to the beloved paths that would lead him to his lover.
Stanza 4: The speaker continues the narrative by describing the presence of an orchard, seemingly bringing him closer to his lover’s home. He climbs the hill leading to her cottage. As he does so, the moon appears to both lower in the sky and approach the speaker. With every step, the speaker is brought closer and closer to his lover.
Stanza 5: The speaker marks a somewhat sudden shift in his narrative by referring to a dream. He describes sleeping in a sweet dream that nature had blessed him with, but it is not clear at first whether he is referring to his night ride as dreamlike or is drifting off to sleep as he rides. In the second half of the stanza, he clarifies that in any case, he managed to keep his eye on the moon that continued to descend in the sky.
Stanza 6: The speaker continues his narrative by stating that his horse edged closer to Lucy’s cottage, step by step. As the cottage grows near, the speaker relates that the moon that had been descending slowly suddenly dropped from view behind the cottage.
Stanza 7: The speaker responds to the shock of seeing the moon disappear from sight. He states that all kinds of thoughts can possess a lover’s mind. Some are joyful, while others seem to come from nowhere and may be less than promising. Upon this realization, he cries out loud in a moment of desperation. He wonders out loud how he would feel if his beloved Lucy were to die.
Analysis
In the first stanza, the speaker sets a romantic, mysterious tone from the poem’s outset. The use of the word “strange” tells the reader that the speaker cannot quite understand these fits of passion—they are as much a mystery to him as they are to the reader. Furthermore, the word “passion” is ambiguous in meaning. As the poem clearly makes references to love, one might say that the speaker has experienced extreme feelings of love and sensual desire that he would only dare whisper in his lover’s ear. Ironically, the speaker creates an intimate ambiance between his lover and himself, all the while sharing this intimacy with the reader. Alternatively, the passion may refer to anxiety or fear of losing his love. The use of the past tense with “befell” suggests that the speaker is telling the story of a past time in his life, further adding to the mystery. It is unclear whether the speaker is referring to a single episode or a recurring feeling.
The second stanza establishes the romantic nature of the poem. The speaker begins to describe the existence of a lover. His use of the past tense with the word “loved” makes the reader wonder if the lover is still a part of his life. It is impossible to know how far back in time the speaker is describing. The simile of “fresh as a rose” portrays his lover as a beautiful and virtuous woman. With the mention of “bent,” one is given a sense of not only movement toward the woman’s home but also the speaker’s gravitational pull toward the object of his love. The “evening-moon” creates further mystery, as one wonders why he was going to see her at night. The moon reference also creates a dream-like tone that later leads the reader to question if the speaker indeed had such an experience, or if he is describing a dream about his lover.
The third stanza continues to build the setting and atmosphere of the poem. The speaker fixes his eye upon the moon as if it were a compass leading him to his lover. The mention of the “wide lea” makes the speaker seem small and vulnerable in the vastness of the natural landscape, with only the light of the moon to guide him. The mention of his horse’s “quickening pace” adds anticipation. The speaker is eager to see his lover, and the reader is eager to learn where the narrative leads. With every step, the horse brings the speaker closer to the land that signifies his lover’s home.
In the fourth stanza, the mention of “the orchard plot”—as opposed to “a”—appears to signify that the speaker is approaching a part of his lover’s property and thus her cottage. The same is true for the mention of “the hill,” indicating a hill that the speaker has likely climbed many times. We are in familiar territory, and his lover is just around the corner. For the first time, the reader learns that her name is Lucy. The speaker's characterization of the moon shifts in this stanza. The mention of it “sinking” gives a somewhat ominous vibe to the poem. It appears larger and larger to the speaker—once again connoting proximity to his lover—but it also suggests a disappearance. The moonlight guides the speaker, and without it, one feels he will lose his way. One questions if a loss of some kind is near or if the speaker will lose, figuratively speaking, the compass of his life which is Lucy.
In the fifth stanza, the speaker’s mention of sleeping in a sweet dream is at first puzzling for the reader. The speaker may be suggesting a dreamlike feeling he had while riding to the cottage, brought upon by the nocturnal setting. He describes the dream as nature’s “boon,” or blessing, while giving nature a sense of importance by capitalizing the word. Alternatively, one might say that he was falling asleep as he rode and actually began to dream. In any case, he believes that nature is kind and gentle by blessing him with something that is dear to him—perhaps Lucy herself. By the second half of the stanza, he makes it clear that he kept his eye on the moon as he rode and therefore never lost sight of where he was going. The moon, however, is depicted as descending still. This mention continues to suggest a gradual loss of something while creating a somewhat ominous tone.
The poem reaches a climax in the sixth stanza. The speaker’s horse draws closer and closer to the cottage, never losing momentum along the way. “Hoof after hoof” gives the reader the feeling that he too is drawing closer to the cottage, like the speaker and the horse. The speaker is in a familiar setting, as indicated by familiar paths, the orchard, and the sight of Lucy’s cottage. This momentarily puts him in a place of happy calm. However, the mention of the moon abruptly wakes the speaker—and the reader—from the gentle, dreamlike ambiance of the poem. With the words “at once,” the speaker is given a sudden jolt during his ride, while the reader is jolted by the sudden shift in narrative. The slowly descending moon is described as dropping behind the cottage. The speaker no longer has moonlight to guide him, and the ominous tone hinted at earlier with the descending moon image is now strongly set in place. The sudden dropping of the moon further implies the loss of something dear to the speaker.
In the seventh and final stanza, the speaker explains that the lover’s mind is capable of thinking up all kinds of thoughts. The poem has so far shown all the beautiful images that love conjures in one’s mind. However, the speaker also acknowledges that some thoughts may be “wayward.” These thoughts may appear out of the blue and with no real justification. The connotation of this word implies that this kind of thought may be negative and damaging to one’s hope. The latter half of the stanza describes the titular strange fit of passion that the speaker experienced. Upon seeing the moon disappear, the speaker has his own wayward thought that wakes him up from the glowing, secure feeling of love he has been feeling. He suddenly considers the prospect of losing Lucy, and the idea makes him cry out loud in fear and despair. Somehow, the image of the dropping moon signifies a loss. He has lost his direction and his light. If Lucy is the light of his life, he now fears he may lose her as well. One realizes in retrospect that her earlier comparison to a rose was a kind of foreshadowing, as roses eventually wilt and die. The "strange fit of passion" may therefore extend beyond feeling love for Lucy and may also refer to the anxious thought of losing her one day.
