Wordsworth’s “A Complaint” communicates the very human experience of the losing a love (or a lover) through the emotions of a persona, who had gone through the same. The poem begins with the persona’s exclamation of the occurrence of “a change, and [that he or she] is poor” (1). It must be noted that the persona does not mean “poor” in the monetary sense but rather he or she uses the term to suggest the loss of something that was once very important to him or her. It is also this line, which sets the tone of helplessness and resignation that is quite resonant in the poem. Especially because the persona exclaims on the onset that something has changed, but by immediately following it with “and I am poor” (1) he or she relays that nothing more can be done about the situation and that what was lost, is simply lost for good. There are two central images used throughout the poem, the first is that of the fountain which appears to represent the beloved; and the second is water, which can be seen as the symbol of the beloved’s love for the persona. It is, I find, important to this interpretation of “A Complaint” to note that fountains had initially had a practical purpose, which over time had acquired a more symbolic significance. Fountains had begun as a simple means of supplying water to the larger public, but later on had (as their designs grew more grandiose) come to symbolize the “magnanimity and thoughtfulness of the rulers and lords who cared enough to supply the population with water, at the same time displaying power displaying power and wealth” (Giorgi 117). 11 7). Thus the fountain was not only an ornament but was also a lifeline for the people as it gave them access to an extremely important element, water. It is in the first stanza that the persona introduces the readers to the image of this fountain, which appears to be quite accessible to him or her; as he or she describes it as “at my
fond heart’s door” (3). The lines that succeed this also imply that while the persona was still the center of the beloved’s affections, their love was fair and natural. The second stanza begins with the persona recalling that they were indeed happy and that he or she was grateful for those times. In the succeeding lines the readers are once again faced with the image of the fountain, which the lover appears to venerate almost as if it were a sacred object. But it is in the tenth line that the poet’s choice of adjectives creates interesting meanings for the poem. Here the persona uses three adjectives to describe love: murmuring, sparkling and living (however, emphasis will be given to the first and the third). The word murmuring, as defined in the Oxford English Dictionary, can mean a soft, low, indistinct sound as well as a subdued expression of dissatisfaction. This creates multiplicity in meaning as it could mean that the persona has gotten used to the presence of the “fountain” that the sound that it creates has become familiar to him or her; but at the same time it could also mean that the lover is perfectly aware of the beloved’s unhappiness in their relationship. The adjective living ties in w ell with the flowing motion of water established in the first stanza. This creates the sense of an equilibrium being met by this motion as the water (or in this case, love) flows from the lover to the beloved and vice versa, regardless if they are aware of this or not. In the following lines the persona declares that he or she has been left with “A comfortless and hidden well” (12), a stark contrast to the highly accessible fountain as it implies that the water held within in is no longer within his or her reach. In the final stanza the persona appears to have come to terms with the break in his or her relationship with his or her former lover. It is here that the poet also makes the connection between the well and this new kind of love as opposed to the love that flows from the fountain. There is a recognition that while water will always remain within the well it is now stagnant and
no longer moves from one point to another (the points here being the lover and his or her beloved) it is also reiterated that the water found in the well is no longer easily accessible to the persona. Their love is then reduced to nothing more but a memory, it is no longer seen or felt but it still remains with the persona. The last two lines reinforce the persona’s helplessness and resignation to his or her separation with the beloved. It is as if the persona is saying definitively, “This is the cause of my heartache, the loss of my lover.”
