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Lucy

Literary Character
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

The central, idealised subject of Wordsworth's famous "Lucy Poems," whose mysterious life and early death are deeply mourned.

Detailed Definition
Lucy is the unnamed-by-history but central figure in Wordsworth’s Lucy poems. She is presented as a simple, secluded young woman whose death creates the poem’s emotional turn.
Example
Example in poetry:
“When Lucy ceased to be” recalls Wordsworth’s Lucy poems and their quiet meditation on death; “A slumber did my spirit seal” frames Lucy’s loss in spare, elemental language; “She dwelt among the untrodden ways” presents her as secluded and little known; A new lyric might address “Lucy” as an allusive name for an absent, idealized young woman
Additional Notes
The name "Lucy" in "When Lucy ceased to be;" identifies a specific poetic figure, and readers may want to know who she is in Wordsworth’s work.; Found in the poem, She dwelt among the untrodden ways by William Wordsworth
Also Known As
Lucifer light-bringer morning star
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