The Moon (Symbol)
In “Strange fit of passion I have known,” the poet is on a journey to Lucy’s cottage as the moon slowly sinks in the sky. When the light disappears entirely and the moon sinks from view, the entire tenor of the poem suddenly changes and the journey screeches to a halt with the poet’s sudden fear of Lucy’s unexpected death. The moon thus becomes a symbol of Lucy’s brilliance, illuminating the poet’s life. Darkness falls for him when she actually does die.
The Shrinking Violet (Symbol)
In “She dwelt among the untrodden ways,” Wordsworth makes ample use of symbolism to create a portrait of Lucy. He portrays her as "a violet by a mossy stone / Half hidden from the eye!” This figurative language contrasts with the more literal descriptions of her in the same poem as a woman who was unknown in life and unnoticed in death.
The Mossy Stone (Symbol)
In “She dwelt among the untrodden ways,” the violet is half-hidden by a mossy stone. While the stone may represent things or people in life that overshadow true beauty, it may also symbolize a tombstone. Thus, the mossy stone becomes yet another symbol of death in a collection of verses that perpetuate images about the life cycle.
Sleep (Symbol)
In "A slumber did my spirit seal," the image of sleep symbolizes death. While the speaker talks of being in a dreamlike state that prevented him from accepting the reality of Lucy's mortality, the image of slumber nonetheless serves as a reference to Lucy's passing.
Lucy Herself (Symbol)
There has been much speculation about who the real-life inspiration of Lucy might have been, while others adhere to the perspective that Lucy is entirely what she seems to be: an ideal of a woman rather than a real person. Throughout the poems, Lucy takes on the advantages of a perfect memory that seems to exceed even the idealization of the memory of an actual person. An interesting aspect of the "Lucy Poems" is that, although the poet suggests that his life forever changed following Lucy’s death, the language of his memory is no way elegiac and never strives to reach for grand exhibitions of emotion. The poems are, in fact, remarkably austere and emotionally restrained given the profound effect the poet claims Lucy's loss had upon him.
