Wordsworth's Poetical Works Lesson Plan

Discuss the leech gatherer and his qualities. What is he doing in the poem? Why do you think Wordsworth describe a human character in such detail here, something he doesn't often do?

The leech gatherer character is unusual for Wordsworth, who doesn't often include dialogue while describing his mind's wanderings. To some extent, the character is an idealized and general figure, and we might think about the whole conceit of the poem as an external representation of what goes on in Wordsworth's mind. The leech gatherer provides a structure, road map and focus for the poem. The leech gatherer is largely an archetype, inserted as a foil for the speaker's...