We Are Seven

In "We Are Seven" Wordsworth argues that children are capable of understanding death on a more abstract level than adults.  Wordsworth starts by having the speaker inquire into the limits of knowledge children have when it comes to death.  Wordsworth then sets up a mock philosophical discourse between the speaker and a child to explore this question.  What is interesting, is that the speaker is mostly concerned with facts, namely, how many of her siblings died.  When the little girl replies "we are seven" over and over again...it's not because she can't count, despite what the speaker might think, I think the meaning behind "we are seven" is more abstract.  The little girl does not make the same distinction between the alive and the dead; for her it is possible to be with someone who is no longer alive.  Whether this is just in memory no one really knows, but she feels able to be with the dead in a way the speaker cannot grasp.