LInes Written in Early Spring by William Wordsworth

• Structure


  • 6 quatrains
  • All stanzas except the last follow the same ITE, ITE, ITE, ITR structure
  • ITE - iambic trimeter (5 of -/)
  • ITR - iambic tetrameter (4 of /-)
  • AB AB rhyme scheme in each stanza
  • The first two lines of the last stanza are a different structure
  • Use of cesura throughout the poem
• ABAB rhyme scheme


  Regularity of structure can be linked to the regularity of the natural world
• First lines of the last stanza are a different structure

  • Disrupts the regular rhythm
  • Jarring
  • Unnatural
  • Could be linked to the idea that Wordsworth believed that the events of the time (like the industrial revolution) were unnatural
• Use of cesura


  • Slows down the pace
  • Forces the reader to think about the words in the poem
• I heard a thousand blended notes


  • harmonies in nature
  • everything natural works together well
  • music in nature
  • could be birdsong
• In that sweet mood when pleasant thoughts/Bring sad thoughts to the mind

  • Change of tone from the beginning
  • becomes more sad and reflective
  • the rhythm and use of enjambment mean that the word "sad" is emphasised
• To her fair works did Nature link

  • personification of Nature
  • tells us that nature is important to him
• The human soul that through me ran; / And much it grieved my heart to think


  • the use of cesura and rhythm mean that the word "grieved" is emphasised
  • forces the reader to think about it
  • the speaker is mourning for the loss of the natural world
  • links to funeral imagery
  • metaphor
  • emotive language
• What man has made of man

  • the speaker is grieving what humanity has done to the world
  • link to context:
  • the French revolution
  • the industrial revolution
• The periwinkle trailed its wreaths


  • wreaths:
  • funeral connotations
  • mourning the death of the natural world
• And 'tis my faith that every flower

  • religious imagery
  • links to the deificaton of nature
• Enjoys the air it breaths.

  • personification
• The birds around me hopped and played

  • personification
  • "played" makes the birds sound innocent and carefree
• But the least motion which they played / It

  • the use of enjambment suggests movement
  • nature is constantly moving and the speaker treats that as a good thing
• It seemed a thrill of pleasure.


  • the word "thrill" sounds like "trill"
  • almost onomatopoeia
  • makes it easy for the reader to imagine what the birds sounded like and from there put themselves in the speaker's shoes
• To catch the breezy air;


  • implication that nature is carefree
  • more positive connotations than the harsher language used previously
• And I must think, do all I can,

  • the use of cesura after "think" forces the reader to pause and think tooo
  • encourages us to reflect on the state of the world, actively engaging with the poem rather than just reading it
• If this belief from heaven be sent, / If such be Nature's holy plan,


  • different structure to the rest of the poem
  • jarring
  • shocks the reader out of the sense of comfort that the regularity provided
  • the rhythm feels unnatural
  • could link to how Wordsworth views "what man has made of man" to be unnatural
  • religious imagery
  • elevating nature to godhood
• Have I not reason to lament

  • grieving the loss of nature
• What man has made of man?


  • tone of sad anger
• Religious imagery


  • her fair works... Nature link
  • 'tis my faith that every flower
  • Nature's holy plan
• Funeral imagery


  • periwinkle trailed its wreaths
  • much it grieved my heart to think
  • have i not reason to lament
• Link to


  • Shall earth no more inspire thee