William Wordsworth

Composed at the Same Time and on the Same Occasion

Composed at the Same Time and on the Same Occasion - meaning Summary

Nature's Double Message

Wordsworth abandons his pen to listen to a wind-song that rises above ordinary human concerns. He hears a midnight harmony that can be read two ways: as a mournful dirge for past sorrows and as a prophetic assurance of future calm. The poem frames nature’s sound as an impassioned, impartial voice whose paradoxical sadness and promise reshapes the speaker’s mood and invites wider human attention.

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I DROPPED my pen; and listened to the Wind That sang of trees uptorn and vessels tost-- A midnight harmony; and wholly lost To the general sense of men by chains confined Of business, care, or pleasure; or resigned To timely sleep. Thought I, the impassioned strain, Which, without aid of numbers, I sustain, Like acceptation from the World will find. Yet some with apprehensive ear shall drink A dirge devoutly breathed o'er sorrows past; And to the attendant promise will give heed-- The prophecy,--like that of this wild blast, Which, while it makes the heart with sadness shrink, Tells also of bright calms that shall succeed.

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