In contrast to “Expostulation and Reply”, “The Tables Turned” has a tone that is hopeful and exuberant. The speaker in this ballad is calling out to his friends, telling them to drop their books and end their studies. He then describes many situations where nature is able to teach man more about life than any book ever could and that you should “Let Nature be your teacher”. Wordsworth uses the word ‘let” in this ballad and this changes the way Nature can be viewed as the teacher. He isn’t saying that Nature is the sort of teacher that requires work and effort to gain knowledge. Instead, humans just have to be open and ready to receive the wisdom nature has to offer. Humans should not be too analytical in their experience of nature either, “Our meddling intellect/ Mishapes the beauteous forms of things”. I think Wordsworth is trying to explain that the simplest experience of nature teaches us the most about life, and that if we become too investigative in our experience of nature we are missing the knowledge and wisdom nature can offer. A very Romantic sentiment indeed.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Very good. You might have made a little more, even, of your useful insight about "wise passiveness" being the key.
ReplyDelete