Michael (poem)

[4] Furthermore, life depicted in other pastorals was oftentimes idyllic and focused on the beauty of the landscape and the joy of simplicity.

"[5] Despite the dissipation of Michael's life as the poem advances, Page notes how Wordsworth maintained the balance and evenness of his lines.

[10] However, Luke is corrupted in the city and is forced to flee the country and Michael must live out his life without his son.

Wordsworth's decision to write "Michael" was influenced by the social turmoil he believed was being exhibited in England at the time.

According to Pepper, Wordsworth was attempting to turn the attention of readers towards the increasing urbanization of England and its impact on pastoral life.

Michael, his wife Isabel, and his son Luke are thereby seen as victims of this movement, according to scholar Richard Lessa.

[9] Simultaneously, scholars like Westbrook have alternate interpretations of Wordsworth's poem, especially relating to its biblical allusions, which manifest in names, figures, phrases, and images.

[14] In May 2021, President Michael D. Higgins of Ireland wrote about "Michael" in a birthday letter to American folk singer Bob Dylan: "[The poem] deals with the consequences of the enclosures in England in the 18th Century, and their making of a working-class of men, women, and children for the factory system at the cost of intimate rural life.