The tables turned
William Wordsworth, Poem analysis
Up! up! my Friend, and quit your books;
Or surely you’ll grow double:
Up! up! my Friend, and clear your looks;
Why all this toil and trouble?
The sun above the mountain’s head,
A freshening lustre mellow
Through all the long green fields has spread,
His first sweet evening yellow.
Books! ’tis a dull and endless strife:
Come, hear the woodland linnet,
How sweet his music! on my life,
There’s more of wisdom in it.
And hark! how blithe the throstle sings!
He, too, is no mean preacher:
Come forth into the light of things,
Let Nature be your teacher.
She has a world of ready wealth,
Our minds and hearts to bless—
Spontaneous wisdom breathed by health,
Truth breathed by cheerfulness.
One impulse from a vernal wood
May teach you more of man,
Of moral evil and of good,
Than all the sages can.
Sweet is the lore which Nature brings;
Our meddling intellect
Mis-shapes the beauteous forms of things:—
We murder to dissect.
Enough of Science and of Art;
Close up those barren leaves;
Come forth, and bring with you a heart
That watches and receives.
, 1. Content of the Poem
Up! up! my Friend, and quit your books;
At the start of the poem, Wordsworth gives Or surely you’ll grow double:
the sense he is talking to someone else, calling Up! up! my Friend, and clear your looks;
him/her his friend. He gives instructions to an un- Why all this toil and trouble?
known person, which creates a lifelike and conver-
sational vibe, and tells them to put away their The sun above the mountain’s head,
books. Wordsworth goes on by most likely describ- A freshening lustre mellow
ing his surrounding nature. Through all the long green fields has
spread,
His first sweet evening yellow.
The poem mentions books again, calling it dull
and endless strife, and tells his friend to come and Books! ’tis a dull and endless strife:
listen to the ‘woodland linnet’, a bird, while ‘there’s Come, hear the woodland linnet,
more wisdom in it’. Wordsworth compares the wis- How sweet his music! on my life,
dom from books with the wisdom of the bird’s There’s more of wisdom in it.
singing. Suggesting his friend, who he tries to teach
something, will learn more from nature than the tra-
ditional form of education.
After, Wordsworth also compares the wisdom
of nature with a ‘preacher’, another form of tradi- And hark! how blithe the throstle sings!
tional education, suggesting his friend will learn He, too, is no mean preacher:
more from nature than from the church. Thereby, Come forth into the light of things,
claiming nature also offers religious education and
Let Nature be your teacher.
presenting nature as a spiritual force. Then he tells
to ‘Come forth in into the light of things’, again sug-
gesting to leave the books and come outside, which
would to a kind of enlightenment.
Nature is described as a blessing with ‘ready
wealth’ suggesting the wealth found in nature has
more value than the wealth found in the materialis- She has a world of ready wealth,
tic society. Wordsworth goes on by emphasizing the Our minds and hearts to bless—
spontaneous wisdom and truth in nature, which now Spontaneous wisdom breathed by health,
appears to be a feminine figure. Truth breathed by cheerfulness.
Again the focus lays on the education of na-
ture, stating the impulse of a springtime wood will
teach you more about the ‘moral evil and of good’
than ‘all the sages can’. Wise man is meant by One impulse from a vernal wood
‘sages’ and so Wordsworth suggests nature is wiser May teach you more of man,
than all humankind. Of moral evil and of good,
Than all the sages can.
Sweet is the lore which Nature brings;
Our meddling intellect
Wordsworth mentions the sweetness nature
Mis-shapes the beauteous forms of
brings and states how our rational and controlled
things:—
We murder to dissect.
Enough of Science and of Art;
William Wordsworth, Poem analysis
Up! up! my Friend, and quit your books;
Or surely you’ll grow double:
Up! up! my Friend, and clear your looks;
Why all this toil and trouble?
The sun above the mountain’s head,
A freshening lustre mellow
Through all the long green fields has spread,
His first sweet evening yellow.
Books! ’tis a dull and endless strife:
Come, hear the woodland linnet,
How sweet his music! on my life,
There’s more of wisdom in it.
And hark! how blithe the throstle sings!
He, too, is no mean preacher:
Come forth into the light of things,
Let Nature be your teacher.
She has a world of ready wealth,
Our minds and hearts to bless—
Spontaneous wisdom breathed by health,
Truth breathed by cheerfulness.
One impulse from a vernal wood
May teach you more of man,
Of moral evil and of good,
Than all the sages can.
Sweet is the lore which Nature brings;
Our meddling intellect
Mis-shapes the beauteous forms of things:—
We murder to dissect.
Enough of Science and of Art;
Close up those barren leaves;
Come forth, and bring with you a heart
That watches and receives.
, 1. Content of the Poem
Up! up! my Friend, and quit your books;
At the start of the poem, Wordsworth gives Or surely you’ll grow double:
the sense he is talking to someone else, calling Up! up! my Friend, and clear your looks;
him/her his friend. He gives instructions to an un- Why all this toil and trouble?
known person, which creates a lifelike and conver-
sational vibe, and tells them to put away their The sun above the mountain’s head,
books. Wordsworth goes on by most likely describ- A freshening lustre mellow
ing his surrounding nature. Through all the long green fields has
spread,
His first sweet evening yellow.
The poem mentions books again, calling it dull
and endless strife, and tells his friend to come and Books! ’tis a dull and endless strife:
listen to the ‘woodland linnet’, a bird, while ‘there’s Come, hear the woodland linnet,
more wisdom in it’. Wordsworth compares the wis- How sweet his music! on my life,
dom from books with the wisdom of the bird’s There’s more of wisdom in it.
singing. Suggesting his friend, who he tries to teach
something, will learn more from nature than the tra-
ditional form of education.
After, Wordsworth also compares the wisdom
of nature with a ‘preacher’, another form of tradi- And hark! how blithe the throstle sings!
tional education, suggesting his friend will learn He, too, is no mean preacher:
more from nature than from the church. Thereby, Come forth into the light of things,
claiming nature also offers religious education and
Let Nature be your teacher.
presenting nature as a spiritual force. Then he tells
to ‘Come forth in into the light of things’, again sug-
gesting to leave the books and come outside, which
would to a kind of enlightenment.
Nature is described as a blessing with ‘ready
wealth’ suggesting the wealth found in nature has
more value than the wealth found in the materialis- She has a world of ready wealth,
tic society. Wordsworth goes on by emphasizing the Our minds and hearts to bless—
spontaneous wisdom and truth in nature, which now Spontaneous wisdom breathed by health,
appears to be a feminine figure. Truth breathed by cheerfulness.
Again the focus lays on the education of na-
ture, stating the impulse of a springtime wood will
teach you more about the ‘moral evil and of good’
than ‘all the sages can’. Wise man is meant by One impulse from a vernal wood
‘sages’ and so Wordsworth suggests nature is wiser May teach you more of man,
than all humankind. Of moral evil and of good,
Than all the sages can.
Sweet is the lore which Nature brings;
Our meddling intellect
Wordsworth mentions the sweetness nature
Mis-shapes the beauteous forms of
brings and states how our rational and controlled
things:—
We murder to dissect.
Enough of Science and of Art;
