Intimations of Immortality
...in the second half of the ninth stanza, are a part of this revival of glory in the ninth stanza, and, as such, represent a resurgence of beauty and naturalistic appreciation. The tone of the ninth stanza rises, with some hesitations, and the tone continues to rise throughout the rest of the ode. Line 147 and 148 are closely interlocked with the first part of the ninth stanza, so understanding this thought correctly requires referring back to the preceding lines. Lines 143 to 147 discuss how Wordsworth is hopeful for children but for “those obstinate questionings of sense” (144). Line 147 directly precedes the thought in line 148, that is, the object that is moving is the creature of 147. This “creature” can be interpreted as one’s soul or spirit, because it “vanishes” (147) and “moves about in worlds not realized” (148), and is only vaguely understood (146)- all of which are qualities of what Wordsworth defines as a spirit. The “high instincts” of line 149 may be yet another reference to the soul, since Words worth believed the soul inside us was so transcendent and yet an intuitive part of us. Our “mortal nature” may refer to the physical, natural man. In Lines 149 and 150 the narrator describes how much greater the spirit is above the physical. So great, in fact, that when the physical man comes in contact with the spirit, the physical man “trembles” in awe of the spirit and acts as if it has be caught committing some wrong against the spirit. The “but” in line 151 signals a transition, a break from the thought of the preceding lines. “those first attractions” also in line 151 may also be referring to the previous thought, and drawing the description of the exchange between spirit and natural into a new thought. It is also likely that, since this is a poem focusing largely on how the spirit is gloriously known in childhood, “those first affections” refers to a childhood of natural glory. Line 151 may be interpreted, “but for that first childhood interaction between spirit and nature”. Line 152 seems to qualify line 151. After describing the spirit and natural interaction as “first affections, the narrator now calls them “shadowing recollections” (152), as if he is showing hesitation in singing the laude of youth. Line 153 and 14 go on to expand this thought: whatever these experiences were in the past, they are our “fountain light” for the rest of our life, or “all our day” (154). Fountain light seems to be a word that either has passes out of linguistic memory or was coined by Wordsworth, but the following line, line 155 seems to help clarify it’...