from the beginning of the poem, like the lark's song. 75. fallows, fields lying fallow. 101-124. In associating the lark's song with human intellectual activities, Meredith strikes a characteristic note, different from that of the older poets of the nineteenth century. 110. Earth. See biographical sketch, p. 949. THE WOODS OF WESTERMAIN This is more difficult than the preceding poems, and had perhaps better not be attempted by students who have not attained some mastery of Meredith's habits of thought and modes of expression. It will, however, repay study, for it sets forth the poet's attitude towards Nature and Life somewhat fully. Wordsworth's belief that Nature never did betray the heart that loved Her' is made by Meredith the foundation of a wide-reaching philosophy. To trust and follow Nature, to keep close to the Earth, and yet to maintain a firm hold on the senses, to control self, and to follow the highest development of humanity - this is for Meredith the secret of happiness. The first three stanzas are similar in structure, the first part in each indicating the consequences of an attitude of trustfulness towards Nature, the second part the consequences of an attitude of distrust. Both these attitudes are represented by the same formula, used in different senses in the first two and last two lines. At the beginning of each stanza, the poet says: 'You may enter the enchanted woods safely, if you do so trustingly;' at the end, 'If you enter distrustfully, you do so at your own risk. The fourth stanza passes into a general discussion of the conduct of life, considered allegorically under the similitude of a wood. 5-7. If you toss your heart up you fare successfully. 8-9. But if you show a sign of fear, they change their form. 962. 15. golden bath, of sunlight. 17. winnowing plumes, fanlike wings. 18. on a chuckle, chuckling. 21. jar, a bird with wings mottled like those of a moth. 23. Note the change of thought. 25. rood, a small plot of ground, a fraction of an worldly success, you will enthrone the joy evoked by such natural beauties as a brook or a waterfall, or a clearing in the wood, where the light shines through, and the deer pass, stately and magnificent as the knights of old. 74-81. Or the dull eyes of cattle chewing the cud may take your mind back to the primeval ages, before mind was developed, when Earth was mere rocks and slime, and the sky was a place for ungainly winged creatures the pterodactyls. 84. The Nurse of seed. The principle of reproduction. 88-91. If you follow Nature, you will embrace closely her glory narrowed down to beauty, or take in arms spread wide as air her beauty enlarged to magnificence. 92. white Foam-born, Venus, the goddess of Love. 94. Phœbus, Apollo, the god of song. Phæbe, Diana the huntress, goddess of chastity. 95. Pan, the god of untamed Nature. 97. her, Nature. 98. sterner worship, of modern science, which regards them not as deities but as natural forces. 99. her, Nature's. 103. awn, the delicate silky growth that terminates the grain-sheath of barley, oats, etc. 104. Argent, silvery. The moon is imaged as Diana the huntress. 105. the blush, of sunrise. 107. Passing, and eternally recurring. 110. opposing grandeurs, as of moonlight and sunrise. The spirit of beauty saves their glory from death (fleetingness'). 114-121. The divine harmony of Nature destroys no spring (fountain) of strength; it subdues, but does not slay, guiding the course of the stream, but preserving its source; it tempers the heat of young blood, but hears the heart of its wildness beat through self-restraint, like the solemn yet ardent dance of centaurs on the greensward. 122-9. If you catch the sense of Nature's harmony, it will open the way to a larger fellowship with humanity, and to a Love, instinct with passion, soaring beyond egotism, if you do not put 'the sensual appetites in the foreground. 963. 132-3. Womanhood, the supreme triumph of Nature, demands reverence for Nature's earlier developments. 138. throat and thigh. The waterfall, reflecting the rays of the sun, is pictured as a human being. 143. Bare or veiled. The 'courtly dames' are compared to the open waters and whispering leaves, with which they share the sincerity of Nature. 146. Part of the Nature, by which they are surrounded, and of which they are the outcome. 147. They have the surety of the tree's roots and the grace of its branches. 148-151. They reveal the treasures of their hearts, and do not conceal those of their minds, in order to flatter the pride of the tyrant, Man; for when the mind is not open to the light of day, darkness breeds trickery. Of woman's wiles when oppressed and their consequences, strange and terrible stories are told. 154. the ancient battle, between the sexes. 155. astonished friends, man and woman, aston See 1. 243. 218. Again the thought changes. 220. Dragon-fowl, of selfishness. 226-7. No force, not even that of egotism, is destroyed, but is controlled and turned to noble uses. 235-8. Nothing in nature is philosophically wise, least of all man, except when long experience has freed his mind from egotism. 239. him. The dragon of selfishness. dumb, with astonishment. Beware of self-esteem, even when you seem to be drinking in wisdom. 964. 241. she, wisdom. When you feel that you only are wise, then above all beware. 244. late in the history of the race. 250. Maw, stomach, material desires. 251. Shrewd only for his own material interests. 256. within. See 1. 251. 257. Like the pine, soft within, but obdurate to all outside himself. 265-7. Out of sight of heaven, to the very heart of Earth, the source of her activity and the spring of progress. 270-287. Humanity is imagined as a crowd gazing on the source of Nature, and discovering in the history of the race the slow beginnings of human sensibility. In all these beginnings are described the efforts of man to demand of Nature the satisfaction of material and selfish desires. But Nature cares nothing for the individual, and gives no sign in answer to the cravings of egotism. She proceeds with her task of developing the human spirit out of sensual desires. 292-305. Regarded merely from the physical side, the history of the race appears only a constant interchange of beginnings and endings, darkness and light, life and death, youth and age; but regarded spiritually, beyond the mere senses, Nature is seen to be permanent. 306-9. We may regard Nature with loathing, gaz 323. seer, the prophet or beholder of Nature. 324. witch, bewitch, play the witch, charming you with external beauty. 329. her awful tremble. What is dreadful in Nature, as well as what appears beneficent. 330. Fount. The source of Nature. See 11. 266-7. 346-9. Not the pleasures of sense, which, wantonly followed, grow into habits, and like hags, ride the souls of men to destruction. 350-1. Pleasures that keep the senses under the control of the intellect. 352. sequent birth. Body, mind, and spirit developed in orderly succession. 356-363. It is fatal to neglect either blood, or brain, or soul. If we part company with any one of these three we shall be wrecked. The attempt to develop soul without blood, or worse still, without brain, is to court certain disaster, of which the chronicles of religion are full. The athletic craze for training the blood alone, is no better; and if the brain of the mere intellectual be a higher development, it is not in itself perfect, or satisfying, or secure.' (G. M. Trevelyan.) 965. 363. Glassing her, mirroring Earth or Nature. 370. Eglantine, the wild-rose. 371. darkness. beautiful. Dark eglantine in thought most 372. Knowing, who know. 373. kin o' the rose. Short-lived, but beautiful while it lasts. 374. Those who have explored the depths of Nature use life as a tool or weapon. 379. If they ask the secret of life, the answer is the same as the question'Why?' With this answer they are content. See 1. 369. 380. ramped, held in check. Selfishness being sub-. dued, they will thrill to be marked for service. 384-5. So that in the hour of death, where fear sits, they will still see the stream of life flowing on. 386. lynx. Eyeing it without fear. her, Nature. 388. Sphinx. Riddle. 396. lop, trim, keep within bounds. 418. Momently, for a moment. 430. at the paths behind, at the past history of the race. 441. Again the note of warning. 446-452. If with the sons of selfishness you fear all that is outside of your personal interests. All these are conditional clauses, dependent on 1. 453. 455. Nighted, descending by night, like a vul ture. 457. One whose eyes are out. Ignorance. 463. yapping, barking. 466. drums the sconce, confuses the intelligence. 467. nibblenips, pinches, torments. 469. demon-growing girl, the girl being transformed into a demon. 479. yell you Where, yell to you where you are. |