Michael (poem)

Michael: A Pastoral Poem, written in 1800, is a one of William Wordsworth's best known poems and the subject of much critical literature. It was first published in the 1800 edition of Lyrical Ballads. It is a pastoral poem that tells the story of the eponymous Michael, an aging shepherd, and his only child Luke.

Michael has lost half his land which he used as surety for a nephew who met with financial misfortune. When Luke reaches the age of 18, Michael sends Luke to stay with a merchant that he might learn a trade and acquire sufficient wealth to regain the land that Michael has lost. It breaks Michael's heart to send Luke away and he makes Luke lay the first stone of a sheepfold as a covenant between them that Luke will return. However, Luke is corrupted in the city and is forced to flee the country and Michael must live out his life without his son. He returns sometimes to the sheepfold but no longer has the heart to complete it.

The epigraph of George Eliot's Silas Marner is taken from the poem.

See also

1800 in poetry

External links

• Text of Michael at RPO, University of Toronto.

This article related to a poem from the UK is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.v · Categories: Poetry by William Wordsworth 1800 poems British poetry United Kingdom poem stubs Wikimedia Foundation. 2010. Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР? Erbeskopf Scientific Committee on Consumer Products Look at other dictionaries: Michael (disambiguation) — Contents 1 Rulers 2 Religion 3 Film, television, music, literature 4 …   Wikipedia Michael Symmons Roberts — (born 1963) is a British poet. He has published five collections of poetry, all with Cape (Random House), and has won the Whitbread Poetry Award, as well as major prizes from the Arts Council and Society of Authors. He has been shortlisted for… …   Wikipedia Michael Lally (poet) — Michael Lally Born May 25, 1942(1942 05 25) Orange, New Jersey Occupation Poet, Playwright, Actor Inf …   Wikipedia Michael Madhusudan Dutt — Michael Madhusudan Dutta Michael Madhusudan Dutt Born 25 January 1824(1824 01 25) Sagardanri village, Jessore, British India Died 29 June 1873(1873 06 29) …   Wikipedia Michael Bruce (poet) — Michael Bruce Born 27 March 1746(1746 03 27) Portmoak, Kinross shire Died 15 July 1767(1767 07 15) (aged 21) Nationality Scottish Occup …   Wikipedia Michael Collier (poet) — Michael Robert Collier (born 1953) is an American poet, teacher, creative writing program administrator and editor. He has published five books of original poetry, a translation of Euripedes Medea, a book of prose pieces about poetry, and has… …   Wikipedia Michael Jackson's This Is It (album) — Michael Jackson s This Is It Soundtrack album by Michael Jackson Released October 26, 2009 (2009 10 26) …   Wikipedia Michael Jackson memorial service — Held at the Staples Center, where Michael Jackson rehearsed on June 24 (the day before he died). Participants Rev. Lucious Smith, Smokey Robinson, Mariah Carey …   Wikipedia Michael Bishop (author) — Michael Bishop Born November 12, 1945 (1945 11 12) (age 65) Lincoln, Nebraska Occupation novelist, short story writer, essayist, poet, teacher Nationality American Period 1970 present …   Wikipedia Michael Turner (musician) — Michael Turner Shares Chocolates and Insights on Romance Novels at Fuse, VAG For other people named Michael Turner, see Michael Turner. Michael Turner (born 1962 in Vancouver, British Columbia) is a musician, and writer of poetry, prose and opera …   Wikipedia 18+ © Academic, 2000-2024 Contact us: Technical Support, Advertising Dictionaries export, created on PHP, Joomla, Drupal, WordPress, MODx. Mark and share Search through all dictionaries Translate… Search Internet Share the article and excerpts Direct link … Do a right-click on the link above and select “Copy Link”