Analysis of “We Are Seven” by William Wadsworth

William Wadsworth, author of “We Are Seven”, published in 1798, was inspired by a girl the poet met in his travels. In the poem, Wadsworth depicted the little girl as part of the poor who lived in the countryside and an adult’s encounter of the girl and their ensuing discussion of her family. The themes of life and death, the difference of perception between adult and child, and the nature of spirituality are pervading themes in this poem. The analysis into the meaning of this poem will reveal that instead of the differences in perception between adult and child being the adult is more knowledgeable than the child, the exact opposite is true: the poet poses the child is more knowledgeable than the adult.

The poem is about the narrator, an adult male, and his encounter with a little girl in the countryside. The girl is depicted as being from the lower class, a beautiful girl in the poet’s eyes, but “natural” and “wildly clad” (Wadsworth 278). They discussed the girl’s family members, to which the girl replied, “we are seven” (278), revealing a conflict in view. The girl believes she has seven members of her family, while the poem’s narrator believes there are only five because of the death of two siblings.

The ironic question in the first stanza sets the stage for the rest of the poem. In the first stanza, the poet asks, “A simple Child / That lightly draws its breath / And feels its life in every limb / What should it know of death?” (278). The rest of the stanzas in the poem reveal that the child knows more about life and death than the adult narrator.

Some readers might feel that the poem is simply a depiction of the psychological differences between adults and children and interpret the child’s insistence that she has seven members in her family still even though two had passed as her unwillingness to accept death or her incapacity to accept death, carrying on as if the siblings are still alive. The child stated that she often knits and eats next to her brother and sister’s graveside 

This could be perceived as her inability to comprehend that her two siblings have passed on, especially if one were to interpret the poem only on a literal level. The adult in the poem tried to convince her that she only has five siblings left in her family since two have passed, and attempts to point out the difference, stating she is running around and alive, and her siblings are not, but to no avail, because it does little to convince the girl to leave out her dead siblings in the inclusion of her family.

However, there are hints that the little girl shows unexpected wisdom in her understanding of life and death. When the poem narrator observes that if two siblings lie in the churchyard, then there are only five siblings left. The little girl’s response is very interesting: “Their graves are green, they may be seen” (270) is a symbol of life. The green grass on their graves is a symbol that her siblings live on, at least in her memories. 

In the little girl’s following statements, though, one can see that it’s more than her siblings being alive in her memory. The little girl followed with statements, almost as if trying to prove the male adult in the poem wrong. The little girl described to the adult male in detail how she still spends time with her siblings, and acknowledges that they are in the graveyard. She detailed an account of how each one died, and her memories of them, demonstrating that she does indeed understand the difference of them being alive, and their passing. 

The little girl further demonstrates that she understands the passing of her brother and sister when she describes the manner in which her sister Jane and her brother John passed in stanzas twelve, thirteen, and fourteen (270). These stanzas demonstrated that the little girl knows quite a lot about her siblings’ passing and their status. She demonstrates knowledge of God and comprehension of the concept of Heaven when she stated that God released her of her sister Jane’s pain, and she went away, and her brother John was forced to go also. The little girl knows that her siblings have passed and that they are in Heaven.

When the adult in the poem insisted that if two are in Heaven, there are only five of them left in her family. In the last stanza, the adult had not made any progress in his argument with the child. “The little Maid would have her will / And said, ‘Nay, we are seven!’” (270). To the adult, he was looking at death only by a simple matter of math – seven minus two equals five. It seems the little girl is the one who had a higher comprehension of life and death, as the poet stated in his description of her, being beautiful and natural. If they are alive in Heaven, to the little girl, this means they are alive. It’s the same to her as her siblings who were gone to sea. It implies she felt that if they are in another place at the moment, that she will see them again, much like her siblings at sea. The child demonstrates an unshakable faith. Because the girl demonstrates a more elaborate understanding of the death of her siblings, the question in the first stanza is ironic.

The intricate development of the themes of life and death and the clever use of irony in the first stanza demonstrated the complicated nature of Wadsworth’s poem, disguised in seemingly simple language. Also, the poem can be appreciated on different levels: literal, symbolic, and themes that challenge people’s perception of the true nature of life and death. Perhaps Wadsworth is trying to tell the reader to believe with the faith of a child, or that people are never dead because they live on in our memories. Like all great poetry, it challenges the reader to arrive at his or her own decision what to believe.

Work Cited

Wadsworth, William. “We Are Seven”. The Norton Anthology of English Literature: The Romantic Period. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt. New York: W. W. Norton & Co, 2012. 270-272, 278-279. Print.