full Summary of the poem leech gatherer by william wordsworth
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“The Leech Gatherer” by William Wordsworth is a poem, also called “Resolution and Independence.” This poem has 140 lines, which are divided into twenty stanzas. The title of the poem mainly draws from the content in the poem. The author narrates his experience when he meets with a leech gatherer. Therefore, this poem is written in the first person form. The speaker in the poem is the author himself. In the poem, the author narrates about his walk in the moor one spring morning. He experiences a strange phenomenon when he meets an old man, who was a leech gatherer, wandering in the moor, in search of leeches. At this point, the element of nature is already manifesting in the poem. This is through the use of seasons such as spring morning, and the use of landscape such as the moor, as well as the presence of leeches, which are part of nature. Many other elements of nature occur in this poem, even though they have been used to portray different meanings.
In this poem, the leech gatherer had spent most of his past many days looking for leeches up and down in the moor. Although leeches are scarse in this season, the leech gatherer does not give up searching for them, as his life depends on them. In this scenario, William Wordsworth presents a deeper meaning of what the leeches are, and what the old man’s struggle represents. Therefore, although the leeches are part of nature, William Wordsworth looks beyond their physical presentation and thinks of them in a deeper view, thus, giving them a different meaning, which is more deep and spiritual. The scene of a person hunting is quite fascinating, and is a representation of nature. Therefore, in William Wordsworth’s poem, the old man searching for leeches is an act that considerably reflects on nature. This is mainly through the interdependence between human beings and other elements in nature. Therefore, this scene creates a natural relationship. However, William Wordsworth does not just look at this as plainly as it appears. William Wordsworth compares this relationship between the leech gatherer and his leech searching to a determined and perseverant poet. Although the season was not favorable for leeches, the leech gatherer did not give up hope but went ahead to search for leeches, hoping that he would gather some. Therefore, this has a deeper meaning of a poet, who is faced with adversity and solitude, but he is strong-hearted enough to endure the adversities before him.
At the beginning of the poem, William Wordsworth the author employs a variety of expressions symbolizing nature. As a wanderer, he experiences happy emotions and is in high spirits while travelling the moor. He delights in the beautiful nature surrounding him. However, he thinks to himself that happiness and despair are closely linked. When he encounters the old man, the leech gatherer and interacts with him, he learns that the old man’s work of gathering leeches has many things in common with poetry writing. Therefore, like a leech gatherer, the speaker in the poem, who is William Wordsworth, compares the art of poetry writing to the practice of leech gathering. While the leech gatherer searches for leeches in the moor, the poet searches his or her mind for poems. The moor is the natural environment where the leech gatherer finds the leeches, thus is home to leeches. On the other hand, the mind of a poet is where the poet searches through for poems. For the poet, the mind is therefore, the home to ideas. The leeches are not always available for the leech gatherer to collect, even though he shows up to search for them. This is the same way a poet might lack inspiration, which sometimes is hard to find. Therefore, by comparing the leech gatherer with a poet, the speaker in the poem is of the opinion that, a poet, no matter how discouraged he or she is, or how much inspiration they lose, they must learn from the leech gatherer. The leech gatherer goes ahead to search for leeches, even when the season is not favorable for leeches, and they are scarse because of dryness. The same, a poet should go ahead, even when they lack inspiration; they ought to look for it and continue with their art of poetry.
In this poem, the author recounts his encounter with an elderly guy. The elderly man worked as a leech gatherer. The poet claims that night's breeze was cool. Although it rained continuously all night, the morning was incredibly clear and beautiful.
- On the grass, there were raindrops. On the grass blades, they were shining. The sky appeared to be very clear and brilliant as well. Bright sunlight was present.
- The birds were singing in a pleasant voice, and the entire scene was joyful and endearing. The poet was watching hares frolic joyously and listening to the wonderful singing of a skylark in the sky when he suddenly realized that these happy times would pass quickly.
- He might eventually end up destitute and alone. He became quite depressed or painful about it as a result. The poet continues by saying that he has lived his entire life in enjoyment.
- The poet reflects on Chatterton and Burns' terrible endings. They were both brilliant and had lived happy lives, but their later years were very difficult. So they committed suicide.
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