The Idiot Boy

              This is a very long ballad written by the Romantic Poet Wordsworth. Although he was a famous Romance poet, this ballad is much more earthy and crass , not as concerned with typical form of the poetry of the Romance era. Like a contemporary ballad set to music or a country Western song this is the story of a women who is compelled to take care of her sick neighbor down the road, Susan Gale. This elderly ill women needs her neighbor to care for her and to send for the doctor along the dark night country road. So Betty Foy who is of a general poor class of people feels she has trained her mentally challenged son, "The Idiot Boy" to ride the long dark road into town to fetch the doctor. The poem is written in the tone of Mockery, or a bit of sarcasm, in regard to the boy "johnny" being the hero of the story. His mother Betty feels she has taught hi to ride into town well enough that he can complete the life or death errand in spite of his mental handicaps. Ironically, Wordsworth, as an upper class gentleman of intellect and education is somewhat disguised by the peasant poorer "Mary" who must keep her son at home and try to teach him to function in daily life, because in his notes on the poem, he states that people of his class would have place a child born this way into a care institution. He is somewhat offended by these needy limited people in his society. In the poem, Betty goes to care for the sick women, Susan, and awaits the "idiot" Johnny, her sons return with the doctor. She becomes more and more alarmed a and finally goes out in the night to look for him. Her sick neighbor actually gets better while overcome with worry and walks out looking for both of them and their return on horseback. This is a bit of irony in the ballad, or poem. The end is that the mother, Betty finds the boy lost in thought , having sat all night in the forest...till "morn".....The author laments the fact poor people have to care for their "retarded" loved ones to the extent that they forget their handicaps and all of society has to encounter these individuals. It is rather a shocking prejudice by this poet who we hope is filled with grand feelings. It is hard to believe people such as Wordsworth This is a very long ballad written by the Romantic Poet Wordsworth.Although he was a famous Romance poet, this ballad is much more earthy and crass , not as concerned with typical form of the poetry of the Romance era. Like a contemporary ballad set to music or a country Western song this is the story of a women who is compelled to take care of her sick neighbor down the road, Susan Gale. This elderly ill women needs her neighbor to care for her and to send for the doctor along the dark night country road. So Betty Foy who is of a general poor class of people feels she has trained her mentally challanged son, "The Idiot Boy" to ride the long dark raod into town to fetch the doctor. The poem is written in the tone of Mockery, or a bit of sarcasm, in regard to the boy "johnny" being the hero of the story. His mother Betty feels she has taught hi to ride into town well enough that he can complete the life or death errand in spite of his mental handicaps. Ironically, Wordsworth, as an upper class gentleman of intellect and education is somewhat disguisted by the peasant poorer "Mary" who must keep her son at home and try to teach him to function in daily life, because in his notes on the poem, he states that pople of his class would have place a child born this way into a care institiution. He is somewhat offended by these needy limited people in his society. In the poem, Betty goes to care for the sick women, Susan, and awaits the "idiot" JJohnny, her sons return withthe doctor. She becomes more and more alarmed a nd finally goes out in the night to look for him. Her sick neighbor actually gets better while overcome with worry and walks out looking for both of them and their return on horseback. This is a bit of orony in the ballad, or poem. The end is that the mother, Betty finds the boy lost in thought , having sat all night in the forest...till "morn".....The author laments the fact poor people have to care for their "retarded" loved ones to the extent that they forget their handicaps and all of society has to encounter these individuals. It is rather a shocking predjudice by this peot who we hope is filled with grand feelings. It is hard to believe people such as Wordsworth could be so callous and unfeeling towards the disabled since he was of the educated group of society of his time. It shows how the "caste" type society of the economic steryotyping of society and its inherent beliefs could poisen and predjudice the wealthier and educated and cause such inhumanity in some of their belief systems. Wordsworth did not want to see the disabled and felt their families should not be so invested in their well being.