"Strange Fits of Passion Have I Known" by William Wordsworth (Poem, Summary, Paraphrase & Analysis)

 

"Strange Fits of Passion Have I Known"

by William Wordsworth

(Poem, Summary, Paraphrase & Analysis) 

"Strange Fits of Passion Have I Known"

Strange fits of passion have I known

And I will dare to tell,

But in the lover’s ear alone,

What once to me befell.

 

When she I loved looked every day

Fresh as a rose in June,

I to her cottage bent my way,

Beneath an evening moon.

 

Upon the moon I fixed my eye,

All over the wide lea;

With quickening pace my horse drew nigh

Those paths so dear to me.

 

And now we reached the orchard-plot;

And, as we climbed the hill,

The sinking moon to Lucy’s cot

Came near, and nearer still.

 

In one of those sweet dreams I slept,

Kind Nature’s gentlest boon!

And all the while my eyes I kept

On the descending moon.

 

My horse moved on; hoof after hoof

He raised, and never stopped:

When down behind the cottage roof

At once the bright moon dropped.

 

What fond and wayward thoughts will slide

Into a lover’s head!

“O mercy!” to myself I cried,

“If Lucy should be dead!”

 

Summary

The poem is a first-person account of a speaker (a lover) describing a specific emotional experience he once had. The speaker begins by acknowledging that he has experienced intense and unusual emotions—"strange fits of passion"—and he is willing to share one such experience, but only with other lovers, implying it is deeply personal.

He recalls an evening when he was traveling on horseback to visit Lucy, the woman he loves. It was a calm and quiet night, and he rode under the light of the moon, heading toward her cottage. The beauty of nature and the peacefulness of the journey are highlighted as he observes the moonlight and the countryside.

As he approaches Lucy’s cottage, his attention remains fixed on the sinking moon, which seems to draw closer to her home the nearer he gets. The moon’s descent becomes symbolically tied to his emotional state and growing anticipation.

Just as he reaches the orchard near her house and begins to climb a hill, the moon appears to sink behind the roof of Lucy’s cottage, vanishing from sight. This simple natural event triggers a sudden and shocking thought in the speaker’s mind—he wonders, “If Lucy should be dead!”

The poem ends abruptly with this unexpected and fearful thought, capturing how quickly emotions can shift from peace and love to dread and anxiety, especially in matters of the heart.

 

Line-by-line Paraphrase

Strange fits of passion have I known

 I have experienced intense and unusual emotions.

 

And I will dare to tell,

 And I am bold enough to share them,

 

But in the lover’s ear alone,

 Though only with someone who has also been in love,

 

What once to me befell.

 The story of something that once happened to me.

 

When she I loved looked every day

 At that time, the girl I loved appeared each day

 

Fresh as a rose in June,

 As beautiful and full of life as a rose blooming in June,

 

I to her cottage bent my way,

 I used to travel to her cottage,

 

Beneath an evening moon.

 While riding in the peaceful light of the evening moon.

 

Upon the moon I fixed my eye,

 I kept staring steadily at the moon,

 

All over the wide lea;

 As I rode across the open meadow,

 

With quickening pace my horse drew nigh

 My horse moved faster as we got closer

 

Those paths so dear to me.

 To the familiar and beloved path leading to her home.

 

And now we reached the orchard-plot;

 At last, we arrived at the orchard near her cottage;

 

And, as we climbed the hill,

 And as we rode up the hill,

 

The sinking moon to Lucy’s cot

 The moon, appearing lower in the sky, aligned with Lucy’s cottage

 

Came near, and nearer still.

 And seemed to get closer and closer to it.

 

In one of those sweet dreams I slept,

 I was in a pleasant daydream,

 

Kind Nature’s gentlest boon!

 A gentle gift from nature itself!

 

And all the while my eyes I kept

 Yet the entire time, my gaze remained fixed

 

On the descending moon.

 On the moon slowly going down.

 

My horse moved on; hoof after hoof

 My horse kept walking, step by step,

 

He raised, and never stopped:

 Lifting his hooves without pausing,

 

When down behind the cottage roof

 Until the moon suddenly disappeared behind the roof

 

At once the bright moon dropped.

 In that moment, the shining moon vanished from view.

 

What fond and wayward thoughts will slide

 Strange and emotional thoughts sometimes suddenly enter

 

Into a lover’s head!

 The mind of someone in love!

 

“O mercy!” to myself I cried,

 I suddenly exclaimed to myself, “Oh no!”

 

“If Lucy should be dead!”

 What if Lucy is dead?

 

Analysis in Detail

William Wordsworth’s “Strange Fits of Passion Have I Known” is one of the most poignant and quietly haunting poems in his “Lucy Poems” series. It combines romantic intimacy with existential dread, encapsulated within the pastoral landscape that was central to much of Wordsworth’s work. The poem explores a moment of deeply personal emotion, reflecting both the joy of love and the shadow of mortality that often accompanies it.

The poem opens with a tone of confidentiality. The speaker tells us that he has experienced strange and intense emotions—“fits of passion”—and feels brave enough to recount one such episode. However, he qualifies that this tale is best shared “in the lover’s ear alone,” setting an intimate, private tone. This introduction serves to immediately align the reader with the world of romantic emotion, where joy and fear, beauty and anxiety, often coexist.

As the speaker begins his story, we are placed in a pastoral scene: a tranquil evening ride beneath the moonlight toward the cottage of the woman he loves—Lucy. The imagery here is gentle and lyrical. Lucy is described as “fresh as a rose in June,” symbolizing youth, beauty, and vitality. The moon, a recurring symbol in romantic poetry, becomes a guiding presence throughout the poem. The ride through the countryside is not just a physical journey but also a metaphorical passage through the speaker’s inner world of longing and anticipation.

The rhythm of the poem mimics the motion of the horse, slow and steady, mirroring the meditative and dreamlike mood. Wordsworth’s simple language and ballad-like structure lend the poem a natural, almost folk-like quality. There is a growing sense of closeness—not just in physical proximity to Lucy’s cottage, but in emotional intensity. The moon, which at first lights the path, begins to sink lower in the sky as the speaker climbs the hill. This subtle descent becomes pivotal to the emotional turn of the poem.

Just as the moon disappears behind Lucy’s roof, the speaker is struck by a sudden and terrifying thought: “O mercy! If Lucy should be dead!” This abrupt exclamation breaks the poem’s peaceful flow and introduces a moment of existential fear. The contrast is startling. What began as a romantic journey filled with hope and tenderness is now invaded by the fear of loss. This fear seems irrational and spontaneous, but it is also profoundly human. In love, especially deep and quiet love, such thoughts often arise unbidden—the fear that something so precious could vanish without warning.

This final line is powerful not because it is explained or justified, but because it is so abrupt and raw. Wordsworth doesn’t resolve the fear; he simply ends the poem with it. In doing so, he captures the way that love can make us vulnerable to sudden and inexplicable dread. The speaker’s fear of Lucy’s death, though not based on any real event, reveals the depth of his emotional attachment and his unconscious awareness of the fragility of life and love.

One of the poem’s greatest strengths is its economy. In just seven short stanzas, Wordsworth creates a complete emotional arc—from love and beauty to doubt and dread. His use of natural imagery, especially the moon, reinforces the Romantic ideal of nature as a mirror to human emotion. The moon’s descent parallels the speaker’s inner shift from serenity to anxiety, and the landscape becomes a stage on which the soul’s drama unfolds.

Thematically, “Strange Fits of Passion Have I Known” reflects Romantic concerns with individual experience, emotion, and the intimate connection between humanity and nature. It also touches on the theme of mortality, a key element in the Lucy Poems. Though Lucy is not described in much detail, her presence—and possible absence—provokes a deep emotional response. Wordsworth doesn’t tell us who Lucy is or what their relationship fully entails, but her symbolic role as beloved, as muse, and as a fragile human being is clear.

In conclusion, “Strange Fits of Passion Have I Known” is a deceptively simple poem that explores the complexities of love, vulnerability, and the sudden awareness of mortality. Wordsworth crafts a moment of profound emotional insight through the quiet setting of a moonlit ride and an unexpected thought. It is this ability to draw universal truths from the personal and particular that marks the poem as a classic of Romantic literature.