Lines written in early spring - William Wordsworth

Question 1

What was in the background when the poem was written?

Answer 1

The French Revolution

Question 2

What is the main theme of the poem?

Answer 2

Beauty of Nature

Question 3

What does man feel?

Answer 3

That he is above nature > doing unnatural things

Question 4

What is the speaker contemplating in the poem?

Answer 4

The beauty of nature

Question 5

What does the speaker use nature to do?

Answer 5

Something to heal his mind and worries

Question 6

What is Pantheism?

Answer 6

-Reality is identical with divinity > see God in the whole of the world around you.

Question 7

What is meant by “a thousand blended notes” in Stanza 1?

Answer 7

-Harmonious element of nature > reaches a divine
-Everything co-dependent on each other

Question 8

What does “I sate reclined” in stanza 1 create?

Answer 8

Juxtaposition between the static nature of the speaker and how nature is full of life

Question 9

What is significant about “sweet…… sad” in the last two lines of stanza 1?

Answer 9

-Juxtaposition = conflict within speaker > inescapable presence of the human world is a threat to nature

Question 10

What does nature’s harmony in stanza 1 reflect?

Answer 10

-Perfection yet human suffering and disconnection is in the world

Question 11

What does “sad” in the last line of stanza 1 reference?

Answer 11

The inevitability of man’s misery > defined by oppression and rebellion in France (French Revolution)

Question 12

What does “her fair works did nature link” in stanza two create?

Answer 12

-Elevates nature to a divine and also maternal caring role > mother nature
-Interconnectedness of mankind and nature
-personification of nature > The power of Mother Nature

Question 13

What could the line break between “nature link” and “The human soul” in the first stanza 2 suggest?

Answer 13

-A constant reminder of the distance between the two > link reacted by man

Question 14

Why is “What man has made of man” significant in stanza two?

Answer 14

-repetition of phrase in stanza 6 > cyclical structure begins to show the incessant and unanswerable problem of humanities misery
-Natures perfection acts as a contrast to highlight this misery

Question 15

What does the “green bower” in stanza three symbolise?

Answer 15

-eternal growth and beauty
-fertility of nature

Question 16

What are “periwinkle” and “primrose” known for?

Answer 16

-medicinal purposes > rejuvenation

Question 17

What is significant about “wreaths” in Stanza 3?

Answer 17

-Circle of nature > eternal beauty of nature
-Celebration of nature’s beauty and gifts

Question 18

Why does the speaker explore how nature offers an exploration of sensory delights in stanza 3?

Answer 18

feels strong emotion > restorative power of nature vs the misery of humanity

Question 19

What is the significance of “every flower” in stanza three?

Answer 19

-Nature as all-encompassing

Question 20

What is significant about the personification of nature in “trailed” in stanza 3?

Answer 20

-creates an image of nature as vibrant and full of nature
-Nature as perpetual, living, dynamic > hope for humanity

Question 21

Why does the speaker describe that “their thought I cannot measure” in stanza 4?

Answer 21

-Speaker cannot seem to comprehend the joy and excitement > still thinking not feeling

Question 22

What do the verbs “hopped” and “played” suggest in stanza 4?

Answer 22

-Verbs build a movement of nature > juxtapose the reasoning of the speaker
-Childlike sense of joy and freedom

Question 23

What does “budding twigs” in stanza five suggest?

Answer 23

Suggestive of hope

Question 24

What does “spread out their fan” suggest in stanza five and what is it?

Answer 24

-Personification is an anthropomorphism
- an image of an outstretched hand > gesture of unity and harmony
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Question 25

What does the imperative phrase “I must think, do all I can” create in stanza five?

Answer 25

-Creates urgency as if realisation has occurred
-This is emphasised by the multi-clause structure > fast pace

Question 26

What does the final two lines of stanza 5 create?

Answer 26

-Hopeful tone > pleasure can be felt through the smallest things

Question 27

Why does the speaker start stanza 6 with “if”?

Answer 27

-Still hesitant > questioning man rather than nature

Question 28

What is significant of “Nature’s holy plan” in stanza 6?

Answer 28

-Natural world conforms to this plan > result is positive whereas humans only capable of cruelty and destruction
-filled with awe at natures divine power

Question 29

What is significant about using “what man has made of man!” as the last line of the poem?

Answer 29

-Rhetoric -unanswered > almost frustrated with mankind and disbelief
-Rhythmic simplicity is ironic

Question 30

What could the poem be about?

Answer 30

-heightening the wonders of nature as an attack on the rise of industrialisation and the way in which it was ravaging the countryside, destroying the places of idyllic beauty

Question 31

What could Wordsworth be doing through the poem?

Answer 31

-Condemning humanity’s moral degradation as a warning for the future of society, as well as a place for the desire to reconnect with nature and each other > to unite not destroy

Question 32

What is the form of the poem?

Answer 32

-6 quatrains
-Ballad stanzas ( Simple ABAB rhyme scheme)

Question 33

What is different about the form of the First, second , third and sixth stanza?

Answer 33

-three lines of iambic tetrameter build up to a single line of iambic trimeter
- A steady build followed by abrupt change fits in with the poem’s reflections on how humanity has fallen out of step with natural rhythms.

Question 34

What is significant of the form of the fourth and fifth stanza?

Answer 34

, use a more traditional ballad meter (alternating lines of tetrameter and trimeter)—and their balance reflects the harmony they describe.

Question 35

What is the meter in the poem?

Answer 35

-Most of the stanzas use three lines of iambic tetrameter capped with a single line of iambic trimeter
-spondee in the second foot of line 3 “sweet mood”and a trochee in the second foot of line 4 “thoughts to”
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Question 36

What is the rhyme scheme in the poem?

Answer 36

-Traditional ABAB > Wordsworth values the philosophy of simple natural harmony.
- The poem breaks from its scheme in the very first stanza > “notes” and “thoughts” > slant rhyme.