The object of “Simon Lee” seems to be to vindicate the instinctive character of the emotion of gratitude against Godwin’s utilitarian rationalism. Godwin represented it (gratitude) as an unfair and degrading feeling, which has its origin in the unequal distribution of wealth, influence, etc.

Wordsworth’s poem “Simon Lee, the Old Huntsman”, which appears in Lyrical Ballads, recounts an actual encounter the poet had with the old huntsman.

Simon Lee lived in Cardigan County, not far from pleasant Ivor-hall. This old hunter was once strong and active. He ran like a merry hunter for thirty-five years and no one could match him in keeping up with the hunt. But now his health has declined and his feudal master is dead. In his old age, he now he is deprived of his health, strength, friends and relatives from him. Impoverished and childless, his elderly wife is his only companion. He lives in a mossy mud hut on a piece of land.

On a summer day, the poet found the weak old man trying to cut the root of a tree with a mattock, but to no avail. The poet offers him help and with a single blow he cuts the tangled root. Moved by this kind help, the old man bursts into tears of gratitude and profusely thanks the poet.

Gratitude is a capacity that is at the heart of what is naturally human and human. Cold rationalism would find no place for such a humble (albeit profound) emotion in the old man’s tearful gratitude. The act of weeping manifests his integrity and also signals the general coldness of the man’s heart. As the poet movingly comments

I’ve heard of cruel hearts, acts of kindness

Coldly still coming back

Poor me! The gratitude of men

It has often left me in mourning.

Here the poet-narrator attends to the reader, taking him through a purgative experience. The pathos and incongruity of old age is the underlying theme of the poem. The poem is extracted from the humble and rustic life. The old hunter is as close to the ground as the stubborn root of the tree that he had tried in vain to uproot. And he has the simple language of simple people who have lived near hills and streams.

Wordsworth here wants to divert our attention from the incident to the feelings which, as he said, give importance to the action. The feelings include not only those of Simon Lee, but also those of the poet-storyteller who is emotionally affected as well.

The poem reveals that the humblest episodes of daily life affect the human condition. It makes us think as well as feel, and this sensitivity is truly educational.