Wordsworth's note about its composition . Irregular Ode . Study Questions Explain the relation between the first two stanzas. In stanza 10 the poet is once again able to celebrate the joy of natural things. If we had no other clues, the joyful tone of this stanza would suggest that the speaker has been able to allay his darker musings.
Some critics think that the sensual imagery which permeates the poem borders on symbolism.
I was often unable to think of external things as having external existence, and I communed with all that I saw as something not apart from, but inherent in, my own immaterial nature. Many times while going to school have I grasped at a wall or a tree to recall myself from this abyss of idealism to the reality. Basil Willey suggests that all along Wordsworth was living on his capital. Return to Everett's English page .