In William Wordsworth's poem, what is the significance of the repetitive words in "We Are Seven?""We are Seven," by William Wordsworth.

In William Wordsworth's poem, "We are Seven," the line
that is repeated in one form or another is "we are
seven."

It is repeated twice as "we are seven," and once as
"seven are we."

Repetition in poetry is used to stress, in
this case, an idea. So that the reader does not miss the point, the poet will often
repeat it.

In this poem, the little girl points out several
times, when asked the number of children in her family, "we are seven." The speaker's
confusion arises because two of the seven children in this family are buried in the
graveyard next to the child's cottage. In his adult mind, it means they are
"gone."

However, for the eight-year old child that is
explaining, she sees the brother and sister she has lost as no more distant to her than
her siblings at sea, and the two who now live in Conway. In this child's mind, the fact
that they have passed on does not convey a sense of loss to
her.

She visits with them regularly as she does her chores
or sings to them...

"My stockings there
I often knit,
My kerchief there I hem;
And there upon the ground I
sit,
And sing a song to
them.

The little girl even explains
that when her sister dies, before her brother passes, they both still play where her
sister rests:

"So in the church-yard
she was laid;
And, when the grass was dry,
Together round her
grave we played,
My brother John and
I.

In essence, the adult sees these
children having left their life on earth to live in heaven, but for the little girl, she
is not sad as she feels the presence of her siblings just as clearly as if they were
sitting next to her.