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Zach Trebino
English Romanticism
Dr. Grant Scott
11 October 2010
The Wordsworths Leech-Gatherer
Appearing in both Dorothy Wordsworths journal and William Wordsworths poem
"Resolution and Independence," the character of the elderly leech-gatherer provides an
accessible avenue for a comparison of each writers poetic perception, goals, and interests. As
Dorothys report is contained within her journal, it can be surmised that her account of the leech-
gatherer represents a qualitatively descriptive and real portrait. Dorothy creates a mimetic and
highly realistic portrayal of the leech-gatherer. William, on the other hand, pulls from Dorothys
factual description of the man for his own poetic pinings, imbuing the tale of a simple encounter
into a non-mimetic scene of "visionary dreariness." By analyzing the subtle variations in
physical and meta-physical descriptions and specifically noting what William chooses to include
in his poem and what he chooses to excise from the leech-gatherers persona, the personal
meaning the figure presents for each author becomes manifest.
In Dorothys "Grasmere Journals," she commences her physical description of the leech-
gatherer by enumerating his seemingly excessive attire - "a coat thrown over his shoulders above
his waistcoat and coat [...] an apron & a night cap"; however, nothing of the sort appears in
Williams poem (Wordsworth 393). Dorothy emphasizes the vagabond life of the old man by
highlighting the many articles of clothing on his body and in his possession at all times, pointing
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to the fact that Dorothy has recorded the leech-gatherer as having "not strength for " leech-
gathering and living "by begging" (Wordsworth 393). Here, the leech gatherer is not presently
gathering leeches and had not done so for a good while, yet Williams poem places great
significance in the perpetual and unceasing efforts of this elderly man to gather leeches despite
the scarcity of the product and his feeble state of being.
This, then, exposes one of the primary alterations William made in when composing his
poem. In a way, William turns the leech-gatherer into a member of a dying proletariat breed - a
man working till his last breath to make ends meet, yet Dorothy simply represents the facts of
their encounter. Williams desire to elicit sympathetic responses to his poetic characters
manifests in the perpetuation of the leech-gatherers occupation in the poem. The man is not all
alive nor dead, nor all asleep as he is coming together in lifes pilgrimage and though he is in
extreme old age the leech-gatherer unceasingly toils at his occupation despite the leeches
presence dwindle[ing] long by slow decay (Wordsworth 64-125) . The use of the word
pilgrimage in describing the leech-gatherers occupation conjure religious connotations and
notions of communing with a higher power, something that William consistently seems to
believe is facilitated by and through nature. Everything William employs in his physical
description of the old man including the mans posture as conveying some dire constraint of
pain, or rage of sickness felt by him in times long past is designed to engage the reader
sympathetically with this character (Wordsworth68-69). William is particularly invested in
creating a portrait that forces the reader to confront their personal assumptions regarding such
labor and ultimately admire and envy while simultaneously denouncing the need that forced such
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a feeble man into such a physically strenuous trade (Wordsworth 92). Dorothys portrait,
though sympathetic, does not attempt to elicit sympathy through poetic imagery or vivid visual
descriptions. Instead, she utilizes the facts of the old mans life to invoke a sense of pity. She
describes the mans injuries sustained while driving a cart and notes that all of his ten children
were dead but one of whom he had not heard in many years (Wordsworth 393). Though both
authors engage in sympathetic portrayals, William deliberately strives to solicit an emotional
response from the reader.
Moreover, we see William documenting man in nature and man subsisting solely on the
natural. As can be seen in his other poems, William is invested in revealing mans capacity for
interacting with nature and the extent to which leading a life in and of nature promotes spiritual
and mental well-being. Dorothy has no such investment. The alteration discussed above that
is, the choice to have the leech-gatherer be a leech-gatherer rather than a beggar reflects
Williams desire to depict man as one with nature. When first encountering the man, William
compares him to a huge stone, likening this weak old man to a monumental edifice and creates
an image of the old man standing upon the margin of that moorish flood [.] motionless as a
cloud (Wordsworth 74-75). The comparison between the man and a stone and his stoic stillness
make the man a fixture of nature. The landscape would not be complete without the mans
presence; he becomes a part of the natural world rather than an imposition upon it. Even the
method through which his task is completed reflects the notion of the man as one with the natural
world. The leech-gatherer uses his body as a receptacle, his blood as bait, and the leeches
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(though indirectly) as financial capital. Subsisting solely on what nature offers him, the man is
akin to a divine ascetic.
Williams seems very interested in turning the real-life encounter with a relatively
average elderly leech-gatherer into a quasi-religious experience. Primarily Wordsworth sees a
more than human weight upon [the old mans] frame had cast (Wordsworth 70). Furthermore,
William associates the lofty utterance[s] of the mans speech to that of religious men, who
give to God and man their dues (Wordsworth 94-98). These comparisons imbue the portrait of
the leech-gatherer with sacred and eternal qualities not often attributed to man. To William, the
Man did seem like one whom I had met with in a dream; this gives the leech-gatherer a spectral
quality, once again a certain kind of visionary dreariness (Wordsworth 110). If this man had
visited William in a dream, is he a human at all or some divine phantasm sent to give [him]
human strength , by apt admonishment (Wordsworth 112). Unlike Williams religious portrait,
Dorothy only mentions God in reference to the leech-gatherers gratitude for his children and his
next money making venture buy[ing] a few godly books to sell (Wordsworth 393). Here,
the man is not inherently religious; rather he seems to want to use religion as an exploitative
means of acquiring more capital. William, then, has taken his own sense of spirituality and
intertwined it with the real-life encounter with the leech-gatherer.
For William, it is clear that there is much at stake in the portrayal of the leech-gatherer,
for he must espouse his personal views, biases, and desires, projecting onto Dorothys story of
the leech-gatherer a story of his own creation. The leech-gatherer comes to represent an eternal
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and divine presence for William, while for Dorothy, the leech-gatherer appears to be a simple
encounter in the world, interesting but nonetheless normal. Part of Williams poetic process,
then, is forging actual occurrences into things of poetic beauty, even if the creation of beauty
necessitates the misrepresentation of facts, whereas Dorothy is solely invested in documenting
what is. The leech-gatherer comes to represent the beauty of mans communing with nature and
the firm [] mind that comes from a life toiling at natures whims. Dorothy, however, sees
the old man as a pitiable (though not self-deprecating) representation of mans struggle to
survive. The primary difference between each authors representation of this man is the divide
between envy (William) and pity (Dorothy). Their respective interpretive lenses yield wildly
different products that reflect each authors personal motivations for writing; Dorothy wants to
remember what has transpired, and William wants to re-write what has occurred to suit is poetic
interest in nature, man, and the spiritual glory of man in nature.








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Works Cited

Wordsworth, Dorothy. Grasmere Journals. Norton Anthology of English Literature: The
Romantic Period. Ed. Julia Reidhead. New York: Norton, 2006. 393. Print.

Wordsworth, William. Resolution and Independence. Norton Anthology of English
Literature: The Romantic Period. Ed. Julia Reidhead. New York: Norton, 2006. 302-
305. Print.