{"id":5987,"date":"2014-05-01T07:58:43","date_gmt":"2014-05-01T07:58:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/?p=5987"},"modified":"2014-05-01T07:58:43","modified_gmt":"2014-05-01T07:58:43","slug":"one-impulse-from-a-vernal-wood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/2014\/05\/01\/one-impulse-from-a-vernal-wood\/","title":{"rendered":"One impulse from a vernal wood"},"content":{"rendered":"

I went out one\u00a0bright April morning into a vernal wood; it\u2019s the nearest Wiltshire Wildlife Trust<\/a> reserve to where I live, and I did so with Wordsworth\u2019s insight in my head:<\/span><\/p>\n

One impulse from a vernal wood
\nMay teach you more of man,
\nOf moral evil and of good,
\nThan all the sages can.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It\u2019s not that I really believe this, or that I actually went seeking insight, it\u2019s its sense of possibility that is so inspiring \u2013 and, of course, the reminder that teachers aren\u2019t essential for learning.\u00a0 Wordsworth saw the wood, actually nature<\/em>, as the teacher in this case, as another (much less sublime) stanza shows:<\/p>\n

And hark! how blithe the throstle sings!
\nHe, too, is no mean preacher:
\nCome forth into the light of things,
\nLet Nature be your teacher.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As it happened, I went out after reading a review in \u00a0THE of A Philosophy of Walking<\/a>, by Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Gros,\u00a0which has made me want to walk and walk and walk. \u00a0There is, of course, little stopping me.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, here\u2019s The Tables Turned<\/em> in full as a reminder that Wordsworth still speaks to the human condition:<\/p>\n

\u00a0Up! up! my Friend, and quit your books;
\nOr surely you'll grow double:
\nUp! up! my Friend, and clear your looks;
\nWhy all this toil and trouble?<\/p>\n

The sun above the mountain's head,
\nA freshening lustre mellow
\nThrough all the long green fields has spread,
\nHis first sweet evening yellow.<\/p>\n

Books! 'tis a dull and endless strife:
\nCome, hear the woodland linnet,
\nHow sweet his music! on my life,
\nThere's more of wisdom in it.<\/p>\n

And hark! how blithe the throstle sings!
\nHe, too, is no mean preacher:
\nCome forth into the light of things,
\nLet Nature be your teacher.<\/p>\n

She has a world of ready wealth,
\nOur minds and hearts to bless\u2014
\nSpontaneous wisdom breathed by health,
\nTruth breathed by cheerfulness.<\/p>\n

One impulse from a vernal wood
\nMay teach you more of man,
\nOf moral evil and of good,
\nThan all the sages can.<\/p>\n

Sweet is the lore which Nature brings;
\nOur meddling intellect
\nMis-shapes the beauteous forms of things:\u2014
\nWe murder to dissect.<\/p>\n

Enough of Science and of Art;
\nClose up those barren leaves;
\nCome forth, and bring with you a heart
\nThat watches and receives.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I went out one\u00a0bright April morning into a vernal wood; it\u2019s the nearest Wiltshire Wildlife Trust reserve to where I live, and I did so with Wordsworth\u2019s insight in my head: One impulse from a vernal wood May teach you...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":237,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-comment"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5987","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/237"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5987"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5987\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}