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`` Ode : Imitations Of Immortality `` By William Wordsworth

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William Wordsworth once defined poetry as being “a spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings recollected in tranquility.” In his poem, “Ode: Imitations of Immortality,” Wordsworth expresses his powerful feelings about the natural world and his struggle to understand why humanity has failed to recognize the value of nature. He is saddened by the fact that time has stripped away much of natures glory, depriving him of the wild spontaneity he once exhibited as a youth. Wordsworth uses the symbolism of the child to represent the state of being closer to the glory of nature. From childhood to adulthood, Wordsworth reflects on the impermanent nature of time as the chaotic and creative forces that influence the human existential condition. In the third stanza, the speaker introduces the theme of time to the reader through the motif of the drum. The speaker is melancholy as he states, “While the young lambs bound as to the tabors sound, to me alone came a thought of grief.” The tabor refers to a drum, which shows that the speaker of the poem is connecting the young lamb to the pulse of time. This represents the struggle of man versus time as the imagery creates an odd sense of duality. The young lamb leaping to the beat of time provides a sense of comfort through the innocence of the springtime youth, but the image also foreshadows the inevitable changing of the seasons and the coming of age. The theme of time continues as the speaker mentions a “timely utterance” in the sound of

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