1. Spencer Rodriguez
May 3, 2015
Characters and the Reminder of Death
William Wordsworth wrote The Brothers as well as The Ruined Cottage in his
published works The Lyrical Ballads. He was and still remains a well respected and
loved poet. He believed that language is fitted by the world around us, and that
poetry is an imitation of language, therefore poetry is fitted by the world around us.
Wordsworth wanted people to read his poetry, feel deeper emotions, and to be
more aware about the world around. Two of his major poems were The Brothers
and The Ruined Cottage. When one compares these two pieces, they would find that
some characters share various similarities, also that the both seem to be reflecting
the same sense of a Wordsworth reminder.
In the poem The Brothers, the “main character” is Leonard, the older, tough
brother who just recently has come back home, in search for his barely younger
brother James. The priest also serves as an obtuse narrator throughout the poem.
The focus character in Wordsworth’s The Ruined Cottage is Margret. Her
husband recently just left her and their child. The wanderer also stands in as a
narrator.
When looking at these two specific poems a lot of similarities are made
between the characters, one of them being that James and Margret were both left
searching for someone close to them. These two characters are both in search of
answers throughout the poems. In The Brothers poem, James is always in search for

2. his older brother Leonard, who left and went to sea. In the poem Wordsworth
writes, “That often, rising from his bed at night
He in his sleep would walk about, and sleeping
He sought is brother, Leonard.”(Wordsworth; 351-52) Here it is explained in the
poem the sense of longing and that James is searching for his brother, even in his
sleep. This is deeper showing that James is missing his brother so much that
subconsciously he is even in search for him. Also later in the poem, it is explained
that this sense of missing and searching for his brother eventually leads to his death,
by sleep walk. “They found him at the foot of that same rock
Dead, and with mangled limbs. The third day after
I buried him, poor Youth, and there he lies!” (Wordsworth; 380-82) Eventually
James’ longing and eternal search for his brother leads to his accidental death.
Leonard also shows signs of eternal longing of home and for the lands that
his family once roamed over. In the beginning of the poem his longing is explained in
the following verse;
“Over the vessel's side, and gaze and gaze;
And, while the broad blue wave and sparkling foam
Flashed round him images and hues that wrought
In union with the employment of his heart,
He, thus by feverish passion overcome,
Even with the organs of his bodily eye,
Below him, in the bosom of the deep,
Saw mountains; saw the forms of sheep that grazed

3. On verdant hills--with dwellings among trees,
And shepherds clad in the same country grey
Which he himself had worn.” (Wordsworth; 55-65) Leonard here is daydreaming
and this immediately shows his sense of wanting to go home and missing his
homelands with his family, so he is imagining them in the foam of the waves.
In connection to both of these characters, Margret from The Ruined Cottage
goes through the same sense of longing as both of these characters do. James longs
for his brother to come home, Margret is longing for her husband to come home. She
goes through many towns and buildings looking all over for sign or news of her
husband. In the poem Wordsworth writes;
“With fervent love, and with a face of grief
Unutterably helpless, and a look
That seemed to cling upon me, she enquired
If I had seen her husband. As she spake
A strange surprise and fear came to my heart,
Nor had I power to answer ere she told
That he had disappeared—just two months gone.”(Wordsworth; 655-700) Although
at first read this passage may just seem sad, the feeling that one gets when reading
this, is more than that, it is longing, need, desperation. It is not as if Margret just
wants him to come home because she misses him, its more like she needs him to
come home. Without him she is not able to do any everyday, necessary activities for
the survival of her and her children.
Resembling the sense of longing is the sense of being left with out answers.

4. James, the younger brother in The Brothers, he is left when he is young without
answers as to where his brother is going, when he can come back, on top of, no way
to reach him. Wordsworth writes, “And Leonard, chiefly for his Brother's sake,
Resolved to try his fortune on the seas.
Twelve years are past since we had tidings from him.
If there were one among us who had heard” (Wordsworth; 305-08) James knows
that he is going to sea to make money, which is a very general explanation for
closure. Mentioned is that twelve years had passed before people of the town had
even heard of Leonard being alive.
Margret, the wife in The Ruined Cottage, is also left suddenly without any
answers. Due to this, she is constantly searching for her husband, hopelessly
awaiting any word of him. Wordsworth writes her only news about her husband;
“With the sad news, that he had joined a troop,
Of soldiers, going to a distant land.”(Wordsworth; 676-77) Throughout the poem it
is found that this is the only solid information that she has received about him. She
does not know if he is alive or dead, and if he were alive, why would he not come
back to her and their family?
In these two poems Leonard in The Brothers, and Margret’s husband in The
Ruined Cottage analogously are putting a dollar amount on themselves, and their
relationships with others. Leonard chooses to go out to sea to earn money to send
back to his brother, instead of deciding to stay there with him and take care of him
at home. “And Leonard, chiefly for his Brother's sake,
Resolved to try his fortune on the seas.”(Wordsworth; 305-06) Although he did

5. leave for his brother’s sake, he put a dollar amount on their relationship by leaving.
The basis reason for leaving is very caring, but one may think that the younger
brother would have rather had Leonard home.
Parallel to Leonard, Margret’s husband, in The Ruined Cottage, leaves due to
the lack of money. He leaves and seems to sign up for battle then brings the money
back to Margret, as seen in these lines;
“He left his house: two wretched days had past,
And on the third, as wistfully she raised
Her head from off her pillow, to look forth,
Like one in trouble, for returning light
Within her chamber-casement she espied
A folded paper, lying as if placed
To meet her waking eyes. This tremblingly
She opened- found no writing, but beheld
Pieces of money carefully enclosed,
Silver and Gold…(Wordsworth; 663-71) Margret suspects that he left the money on
her pillow for them when she wakes. Another interesting aspect about this
particular situation is that Margret’s husband would always throw the infant in the
air, as if almost for the rush of the violence. Therefore, reading this scene one could
honestly say that the husband believed that the money made by signing up for battle
and leaving for good, was more needed and safer than he was.
The Brothers as well as The Ruined Cottage both share an interestingly, complicated
character, the narrator/guide. In The Brothers poem the priest is seen as Leonard’s

6. guide throughout the poem, although he is extremely obtuse. This priest does not
realize he knows Leonard, and in turn assists in resurrecting this information of his
family. The priest already knows the story and all of the background of both
brothers, hence being the strings that connect the ties of family.
The Ruined Cottage has a similar character, the wanderer. This man is older
and has watched over Margret for a while. He does know her life experiences and
feels a sort of love towards hers, but he is not willing to help her with anything that
has to do with her husband. He is more there for the basis of the poem so that one is
able to get the true feelings of Margret and tragic events in her life.
Wordsworth wanted his audience to feel emotions of the poems, and to
actually feel the words and the meanings. The Brothers and The Ruined Cottage both
allow the reader to feel and interpret various different emotions as well as
reminders. A common reminder that Wordsworth intertwines within his poetry is
the reminder of death and being aware of death and all that is represents.
Wordsworth often writes about death, wanting death and not wanting death, either
way there is always the thought of death and of how short life really is.
In The Brothers poem, it starts with Leonard returning home, and he is
wandering around a gravesite. Then the audience learns that every one of Leonard
and James’ family members had in fact just died, therefore leaving them as orphans.
“They left to him the family heart, and land
With other burthens than the crop it bore.
Year after year the old man still kept up
A cheerful mind,--and buffeted with bond,

7. Interest, and mortgages; at last he sank,
And went into his grave before his time.”(Wordsworth; 211-16) The audience
gets the information that these two brothers are orphans, reminding us that death is
around everyone all the time.
In The Ruined Cottage, Margret is described later in the poem as almost
cadaver- like. The description of the years of searching, has eventually eaten away at
her physical beauty, and made her outside reflect her feelings on the inside, like
death. “For whom she suffered. Yes, it would have grieved
Your very soul to see her: evermore
Her eyelids drooped, her eyes downward were cast…”(Wordsworth; 790-92) By
describing her as if she is dying or is in fact that, death, Wordsworth is constantly
reminding the reader that life is short, or that death is real and coming. He also
mentions that she has lost her oldest child due to not enough food and to much
work, also reminding the reader that death is everywhere and to be aware.
In conclusion, Wordsworth’s poems The Brothers and The Ruined Cottage,
when compared, have various similarities between characters, as well as the parallel
of the constant Wordsworth reminder of death and the awareness of death. The
similarities are seen through Leonard, James, Margret, and Margret’s husband, as
well as the priest and the wanderer. Therefore, when one takes these two particular
poems it is found that they are similar in numerous ways, and will always leaving
you feeling and hearing your emotions within the brilliance that is a William
Wordsworth poem.