s by experience whether the sound and direction of the wind
forebode storm or fair weather,--precisely the practical kind of
knowledge which a herdsman should possess.

51. SUBTERRANEOUS. The meaning of this word has given rise to
discussion. "Subterraneous" cannot here be literally employed, unless
it refer to the sound of the wind in hollow places, and beneath
overhanging crags.

51-52. LIKE THE NOISE, etc. Is there a special appropriateness in the
use of a Scottish simile? What is the general character of the similes
throughout the poem?

56-77. Wordsworth never attributes to Michael the subtler and more
philosophical sensations which he himself derived from nature. Such
poems as _The Prelude_ or _The Excursion_ contain many elevated
passages on the influence of nature, which would have been exceedingly
inappropriate here.

115. Scan this line.

121. NOR CHEERFUL. The epithet seems not well chosen in view of the
fact that all the circumstances of their life breathe a spirit of quiet
cheerfulness. Surely the light (129-131) was a symbol of cheer.

126. PECULIAR WORK. Bring out the force of the epithet.

134. EASEDALE. Near Grasmere. DUNMAIL-RAISE. The pass leading from
Grasmere to Keswick. RAISE. A provincial word meaning "an ascent."

139. THE EVENING STAR. This name was actually given to a neighboring
house.

143-152. The love of Michael for Luke is inwrought with his love for
his home and for the land which surrounds it. These he desires at his
death to hand down unencumbered to his son. "I have attempted,"
Wordsworth wrote to Poole, "to give a picture of a man of strong mind
and lively sensibility, agitated by two of the most powerful affections
of the human heart--the parental affection and the love of property,
_landed_ property, including the feelings of inheritance, home and
personal and family independence."

145. Scan this line.

169. THE CLIPPING TREE. Clipping is the word used in the North of
England for shearing. (Wordsworth's note, 1800).

182. Notice the entire absence of pause at the end of the line. Point
out other instances of run-on lines (_enjambement_).

259. PARISH-BOY. Depending on charity.

268-270. Wordsworth added the following note on these lines: "The story
alluded to here is well known in the country. The chapel is called
Ing's Chapel; and is on the right hand side of the road leading from
Kendal to Ambleside."

283. AND TO THE FIELDS WENT FORTH Ob