An Altered Look About the Hills
poem 140
An Altered Look About the Hills - meaning Summary
Autumnal Transformation and Mystery
The poem catalogs subtle, sensory changes across a village landscape—altered light, richer colors, new sounds and smells—suggesting a seasonal or atmospheric shift. Small details (a fly, a spider, Chanticleer’s added strut) and larger signs (sunrise, twilight, an axe’s song) accumulate into a mood of renewal and repetition. The closing image invokes "Nicodemus’ Mystery" receiving its "annual reply," framing these natural changes as a recurrent, almost sacred response—an ordinary miracle the speaker recognizes but finds difficult to fully name.
Read Complete AnalysesAn altered look about the hills A Tyrian light the village fills A wider sunrise in the morn A deeper twilight on the lawn A print of a vermillion foot A purple finger on the slope A flippant fly upon the pane A spider at his trade again An added strut in Chanticleer A flower expected everywhere An axe shrill singing in the woods Fern odors on untravelled roads All this and more I cannot tell A furtive look you know as well And Nicodemus’ Mystery Receives its annual reply!
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