The Reverie of Poor Susan by William Wordsworth (Poem, Summary, Paraphrase & Analysis)

 

The Reverie of Poor Susan

by William Wordsworth

(Poem, Summary, Paraphrase & Analysis) 

The Reverie of Poor Susan

At the corner of Wood Street, when daylight appears,

Hangs a Thrush that sings loud, it has sung for three years:

Poor Susan has passed by the spot, and has heard

In the silence of morning the song of the Bird.

 

’Tis a note of enchantment; what ails her? She sees

A mountain ascending, a vision of trees;

Bright volumes of vapour through Lothbury glide,

And a river flows on through the vale of Cheapside.

 

Green pastures she views in the midst of the dale,

Down which she so often has tripped with her pail,

And a single small cottage, a nest like a dove’s,

The one only dwelling on earth that she loves.

 

She looks, and her tears to the eyes do not start;

The sweet music, like balm, has a place in her heart.

As she listens, and gazes, and gazes again,

The fountain of tears is dried up at the vein.

 

So long as I live I will never forget

That thrush singing loud by the door of the net,

And the look of the Green, and the skirts of the sky,

And the voice of that bird, as he sat singing high.

 

William Wordsworth’s poem The Reverie of Poor Susan presents a moving picture of a young woman in London who is carried away by memory and imagination upon hearing the simple song of a bird. The poem begins at the corner of Wood Street, where, at the break of day, a thrush has sung regularly for several years. Its cheerful and melodious voice greets the silence of the morning. Poor Susan, a woman far from her native home, happens to pass by and hears the song. Immediately, the sound touches something deep within her.

The bird’s note acts like a charm, unlocking her imagination and transporting her back to the countryside of her youth. She no longer sees the crowded London streets but instead envisions a mountain rising, with trees covering its slopes. Vapors, like morning mist, drift as if through the familiar valleys of her memory, and even the busy city locations of Lothbury and Cheapside are transformed into parts of a flowing rural landscape. The city, in her vision, becomes a valley with a river gliding through it, reminding her of the places she once loved.

Her mind then fills with images of green pastures lying in the middle of the dale, fields through which she had so often walked with her pail in hand. Among these familiar scenes stands a single small cottage, humble and secure, like a dove’s nest. This cottage is the dwelling she most cherishes on earth—the home of her childhood, filled with comfort and belonging.

Though the memories are powerful, Susan does not break into tears. The music of the thrush works gently upon her spirit, soothing her heart like healing balm. Instead of overwhelming her with grief, it stills her emotions, holding her in a quiet state of reverie. She listens to the bird, gazes upon the vision that fills her mind, and repeats the act again and again, but the fountain of tears remains dry. The experience is one of deep reflection rather than outward weeping.

The poem concludes with a voice—possibly that of the poet—declaring a lasting impression of this scene: the thrush singing loudly near its perch, the remembered green fields, the open skirts of the sky, and above all the bird’s song ringing high. These elements together leave an indelible memory of the moment when Susan’s heart was carried away from the reality of London to the peace of her rural home.

 

Line-by-line Paraphrase

Stanza 1

At the corner of Wood Street, when daylight appears,

-> At dawn, on the corner of Wood Street in London,

Hangs a Thrush that sings loud, it has sung for three years:

-> A thrush sits there, singing loudly, as it has done faithfully for three years.

Poor Susan has passed by the spot, and has heard

-> A poor woman named Susan passes by this place,

In the silence of morning the song of the Bird.

-> And in the stillness of morning she hears the bird’s song.

 

Stanza 2

’Tis a note of enchantment; what ails her? She sees

-> The song sounds magical, and suddenly Susan begins to see visions.

A mountain ascending, a vision of trees;

-> In her mind, a mountain rises up and trees appear.

Bright volumes of vapour through Lothbury glide,

-> She imagines mists moving softly through the streets of Lothbury as if they were country vapors.

And a river flows on through the vale of Cheapside.

-> She sees a flowing river passing through the valley that now seems to replace Cheapside.

 

Stanza 3

Green pastures she views in the midst of the dale,

-> In her imagination, she sees green fields in the middle of a valley,

Down which she so often has tripped with her pail,

-> The same paths where she had often walked, carrying her water-pail.

And a single small cottage, a nest like a dove’s,

-> She sees one little cottage, simple and snug, like a dove’s nest.

The one only dwelling on earth that she loves.

-> This is the only home in the world that she truly loves.

 

Stanza 4

She looks, and her tears to the eyes do not start;

-> She gazes at this vision, but no tears come to her eyes.

The sweet music, like balm, has a place in her heart.

-> The bird’s song soothes her spirit like healing medicine, settling deep in her heart.

As she listens, and gazes, and gazes again,

-> She keeps listening and looking, over and over again.

The fountain of tears is dried up at the vein.

-> But the flow of tears is held back; she cannot cry.

 

Stanza 5

So long as I live I will never forget

-> The speaker says that for the rest of his life he will never forget,

That thrush singing loud by the door of the net,

-> That thrush singing loudly at its perch near the cage or net,

And the look of the Green, and the skirts of the sky,

-> The sight of the green fields and the wide edges of the sky,

And the voice of that bird, as he sat singing high.

-> And above all, the bird’s high, joyous song.

 

Analysis in Detail

William Wordsworth’s poem The Reverie of Poor Susan is a poignant illustration of his Romantic vision, where ordinary experiences are transformed into moments of deep emotional resonance through the power of memory and imagination. The poem is short in length, yet its subject touches on the vast themes of displacement, nostalgia, and the healing effect of nature’s voice, even in the midst of a great city.

The poem begins with a very simple setting: a thrush singing at the corner of Wood Street in London at daybreak. Wordsworth chooses a humble bird and a common location, but he invests the scene with meaning by presenting the bird’s song as a constant presence, faithfully sung for three years. This opening reflects the Romantic interest in finding beauty and constancy in the ordinary. To most passersby, the bird might be nothing more than a part of the city’s background, but for Susan, it becomes the trigger of a powerful reverie.

When Susan hears the song, her mind is immediately transported away from London. Wordsworth calls the bird’s note “a note of enchantment,” and indeed, it works like a spell on her imagination. The harsh cityscape disappears, and in its place rises the countryside of her youth: mountains, trees, valleys, vapors like morning mist, and rivers flowing through landscapes she once knew well. What is remarkable here is Wordsworth’s poetic transformation of London’s geography. Streets such as Lothbury and Cheapside—normally associated with commerce and crowded city life—are reimagined by Susan as natural landscapes. The city is overlaid with the memory of the rural, showing how powerfully the imagination can transform perception.

Susan’s vision deepens as she sees not only broad natural features but also personal, intimate places. She imagines green pastures in which she once walked with her water-pail, and finally, she sees the single small cottage, “a nest like a dove’s,” which was her true home. This part of the reverie shifts from the general landscape of the countryside to the deeply personal space of belonging and affection. The cottage symbolizes stability, simplicity, and love—the very things she lacks in the urban environment. In highlighting this, Wordsworth underlines the contrast between the alienation of the city and the harmony of rural life.

What follows is emotionally striking. Although Susan is clearly moved by the vision, she does not weep. Wordsworth explains that the bird’s music, instead of opening a floodgate of grief, works like balm upon her spirit. It comforts her, steadies her, and dries her tears before they can fall. This detail reveals much about Wordsworth’s understanding of the relationship between memory and feeling. The past, when recalled through the influence of natural beauty, does not always overwhelm with sorrow; rather, it can soothe, heal, and provide quiet strength. Susan’s reverie is not one of despair but of gentle restoration, even if only momentary.

The closing stanza shifts voice to the poet himself, who declares that he will never forget this scene: the bird singing high, the vision of the green fields, the open sky, and the music that rises above it all. This sudden change of perspective shows how Susan’s experience has also touched the poet’s imagination. Her reverie becomes a kind of shared human truth, preserved in memory and poetry. The bird is not just Susan’s guide back to her rural past; it also becomes a symbol for the poet of nature’s enduring power to reach the human soul, even in the midst of the urban world.

In terms of form and style, Wordsworth uses simple diction, short stanzas, and direct imagery. This reflects his poetic aim, as expressed in the Preface to Lyrical Ballads, of writing in “the real language of men” about ordinary lives. Yet beneath this simplicity lies great emotional depth. By focusing on a poor woman—someone marginal in social terms—Wordsworth elevates her private, interior experience into a subject worthy of poetry. This choice is radical for its time, and it demonstrates the Romantic emphasis on the universality of feeling.

Ultimately, The Reverie of Poor Susan is not merely about one woman’s memory. It speaks to the universal experience of longing for home, the displacement many feel in cities, and the way natural beauty—sometimes even in unexpected places—can awaken profound emotions. Wordsworth suggests that nature’s voice, carried in the song of a thrush, has the capacity to lift the human heart above hardship and reconnect it with what is most deeply loved.