"Lines Left upon a Seat in a Yew-Tree" by William Wordsworth is about a man who was "pure in heart" as a youth, but as he got older society corrupted his innocence. Specifically, he is not fond of the human emotions of jealousy and hate. Because of this, he rejects society and goes to live in nature in solitude, and at first he becomes overwhelmed with the beauty of nature. However, he does not remain happy. He is surrounded by nature, which he finds beautiful and should prove to be a comfort to him (it should "lull thy mind"). But after time, instead of appreciating his surroundings, he nourishes "morbid pleasures" and is too prideful. He starts to feel sad that he is not able to experience relationships with other human beings: "Then he would sigh, inly disturbed, to think that others felt what he must never feel." He grows sadder and sadder, "his eyes streamed with tears," and he eventually dies alone.
The first half of this poem tells the story of this man, and the second half tells the moral of the story. The last stanza has a tone of warning, and advises us to find a balance between nature and human relations. Wordsworth is constantly preaching that nature is important to a human's development and has healing powers, but this poem shows that nature is not the only important thing in the world.
A very good summary of the man's story and its moral. But how is the story related? How is it "framed?" Who tells this story and to whom?
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