The Old Man Is Already a Device in the Poem

Wordsworth met real people, people that you wouldn't normally write poetry about. He sees them and talks about them but often he talks more about the effect they have on him than them themselves. Speaking still of this old man himself. Propped limbs, body and pale face upon a long grey staff of shaven wood. The poet is already writing the old man, if you like, before he has actually spoken to him. So we think now we find out the truth of this old bent figure that he's seen by the pool,. And now we'll get his side of the story.