by the glimmering lakes, And through his fingers, woven into one close knot, Blow mimic hootings to the silent owls And bid them answer him. And they would shout Across the watr'y vale & shout again , Responsive to my call, with tremulous sobs , And long halloos, & screams, & echoes loud Redoubled & redoubled , a wild scene Of mirth and jocund din . And when it chanced That pauses of deep silence mocked my skill, Then, often, in that silence , while I hung Listening , a sudden shock of mild surprise Would carry far into my heart the voice Of mountain torrents : or the visible scene Would enter unawares into my mind With all its solemn imagery of rocks, Its woods, & that uncertain heaven, received Into the bosom of the steady lake . . . (Reading Text created from MS JJ, S r ) Annotated Notes for Teaching mimic hootings The boy in the poem mimics the owls in the hope that they will answer him shout . . . & shout again The word "shout" is normally one we would associate with the human voice. It also provides a contrast with the silent owls of the previous line. Wordsworth uses repetition here so that his language reflects the repeated calls of the owls, and their echoing around the landscape. tremulous sobs, / And long halloos, & screams, & echoes loud A list of the variation of sounds that the owls make. Wordsworth places