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Analysis of “Lines upon a Seat in a Yew-tree” by William Wordsworth
Wordsworth’s “Lines left upon a Seat in a Yew-tree” is a cautionary tale of a nameless man, who lives out his life in solitude and quiet. The poem’s ultimate message is to not submit to defeatism, to carry on through failure.
The poem opens with an immediate appeal to the reader – addressed as the Traveller – to sit and rest as the scene tells its tale. The poem is intrinsically defined by its setting, and the opening stanza describes the scene as a place that “…shall lul thy mind/ By one soft impulse from vacancy,” (lines 6-7), a scene of contemplation and introspection.
The second, main stanza tells the tale of a gifted man, “…one who own’d/ No common soul” (5-6) who squandered his life because the world didn’t receive him as he expected it to. He was “by genius nurs’d/ And big with lofty views, he to the world went forth… against all enemies prepared/ All but neglect” (6-11) which leads him to fall into a life of seclusion. The lonely set of the yew tree held particular appeal, as “these gloomy boughs/ Had charms for him; and here he loved to sit… Fixing a downward eye, he a many hour/ A morbid pleasure nourished, tracing here/ An emblem of his own unfruitful life” (14-15, 20-22). The rich description of the scenery around the yew-tree, the bland, barren rock surrounding, but with the glorious view far away, reflects the man’s life. At some point, he had convinced himself that this lonely, quiet life was his due as “…he would sigh/ With mournful joy, to think that others felt/ What he must never feel,” (31-33).
Wordsworth explains this reasoning in the third stanza, which acts as an analysis of the man’s life and the waste that he made. Wordsworth’s explanation is that pride is the key to the man’s downfall, and cautions the reader “Stranger! Henceforth be warned; and know that pride/ Howe’er disguised in its own majesty/ Is littleness” (39-41). The Traveller passing by is warned against self-pity and doubt, as the final lines of the poem “True dignity abides with him alone/ Who, in the silent hour of inward thought/ Can still suspect, and still revere himself/ In lowliness of heart,” (50-53).
Wordsworth’s contemporary audience would have had little sympathy for the quiet man described in the poem. England was coming off the rise of the Industrial Revolution, growing evermore fast-paced and involved. The country gentleman who wastes the life and intellect gifted to him is abominable. Wordsworth’s message is especially poignant for the time, as suddenly, the world is a much bigger place, and holding false pride of yourself and expectations of your impact on the world is much more dangerous. The poem acts as a warning against defeatism and depression brought on by not making as big a splash as expected.
The message a modern audience might find in the poem remains the same. The world is an even bigger place now, globally connected in ways that could never have been imagined in Wordsworth’s era. To truly have an effect on the world in the way that Wordsworth’s nameless subject expected to, one must have the determination and wherewithal to deal with failure, with lack of notoriety and to try, try again.
Remember that you yourself are the best secretary of your task, the most efficient propagandist of your ideals, the clearest demonstration of your principles, the highest standard of higher education that your spirit embraces and the living message of the high notions that you pass it on to others. Do not forget, also, that the greatest enemy of your noblest achievements, the complete or incomplete denial of the sublime idealism that you proclaim, the discordant note of the symphony of good you intend to perform, the architect of your afflictions and the destroyer of your lifting opportunities – it’s you.
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