Wordsworth On A Queen Beggar and Two Vagrants Boys

Wordsworth is romanticizing the female beggar. I think this is so because their is something innocent yet horrid about a beggar. Street beggars tend to stick to our memories more so than the normal person walking by. Maybe its so that we spot the intricate features of a beggar because they stand out as decadent. Wordsworth uses both imagination and vivid description to describe that moment when a beggar greets you for alms, which is certainly a moment that stirs fear/wonder/excitement. Also, as spoken about in today's (10/24/11) class, we see life in an English town with many beggars asking for alms. It is in a way a social statement about normal occurrence in Wordsworth's wanderings and 19th century life.

As Wordsworth continues his walk, he spots two boys at play. Wordsworth assumes these boys are the female beggar's boys and romanticizes them and their innocence as well "with so blithe a heart seemed fit for the finest tasks." Wordsworth finds out that his assumption is wrong. Their parents are dead and the boys are both orphaned beggars and in some way, he has been duped. IMO, Wordsworth is bringing up several notions about beggars: they exist at all ages, these little boys have to fend for themselves; beggars are humanlike as opposed to concrete physical objects; these boys are happy "whooping a merry shout," running around, playing, and seem to have unlimited potential (possibly as much as any other boy). Wordsworth and his beggars live in a world void of social status. Also, Wordsworth acknowledges the trickery of beggars. With his assumption that the mother had children, he was probably more willing to give her alms but then finds out that the boys do not belong to her. On the other hand, the boys could be lying about not having a mother. Either way when interacting with "vagrants," Wordsworth is left somewhat mystified and tricked, which I can see as a natural strategy of one begging to survive and the result one may feel when dealing with a beggar.