"Yet, even ‘mid merry boyhood’s tricks and scapes,
Early my heart a deeper lesson learnt;’’
This poem, like many others, is a meditative poem which takes place in nature. The lines above are the first two lines in the poem, the narrator wanting to transmit the core idea from the beginning of the poem, namely how even though he was a child, he still learned valuable lessons from nature. The theme of nature is a common one in the narrator’s poems but in many poems the idea transmitted is that the narrator started to appreciate nature only in his adulthood. This poem proves otherwise, the narrator highlighting how from a tender age, he used to meditate and think about what he can learn from the world around him.
"Of history, long disused and out of date,
Reading "his Method" till I lost my own.’’
In the poem mentioned above, the narrator describes the process through which he tries to find his way in life. One of the methods he used was to try and follow the methods or the paths set by others, or in other words imitating what others had done in time and hoping he will have the same result. This unfortunately did not happen, as the narrator points out and what is more and maybe what he is even more tragic is that the narrator felt he lost himself along the way. These lines act as a warning for the reader, reminding him or her that even though a person found success in life doing something, this may not be the case for everyone and results may vary depending on context and even luck.
"When, stealing from a laughing group away,
To muse with absent eye and motion slow,
Her beauty fell upon me like a blow? --''
In this poem, the narrator talks about two girls and what makes them stand out and be beautiful. The narrator mentions their qualities and also the moment he felt in love with one of the girls. The feeling of love was awaken by the sight of the girl, standing away from the rest of the group and being in deep thought. This made the narrator fee love towards her and he describes the moment he felt in love with her as being hit by something. Love is thus presented here as being partially violent, affecting everyone in a violent manner. The narrator felt put down by this feeling which overwhelmed him and he felt as if he could no longer continue living without having the subject of his affection in his life.
