--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: With Wordsworth, indeed, the light of…" description: "\"With Wordsworth, indeed, the light of revelation did not fall upon human beings so unbrokenly as upon the face of the earth. He knew the birds of the c..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a19/robert-wilson-lynd-19511_bird_with-wordsworth-indeed-the-light-of-reve_2786899.png" --- # With Wordsworth, indeed, the light of revelation did not… ![“With Wordsworth, indeed, the light of revelation did not fall upon human beings so unbrokenly as upon the face of the earth. He knew the birds of the countryside better than the old men, and the flowers far better than the children.” quote by Robert Wilson Lynd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a19/robert-wilson-lynd-19511_bird_with-wordsworth-indeed-the-light-of-reve_2786899.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a19/robert-wilson-lynd-19511_bird_with-wordsworth-indeed-the-light-of-reve_2786899.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a19/robert-wilson-lynd-19511_bird_with-wordsworth-indeed-the-light-of-reve_2786899.png) > “With Wordsworth, indeed, the light of revelation did not fall upon human beings so unbrokenly as upon the face of the earth. He knew the birds of the countryside better than the old men, and the flowers far better than the children.” [Robert Wilson Lynd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-wilson-lynd/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage contrasts human fragility with the enduring, unchanging natural world, suggesting that nature holds deeper, more constant truths than human experience. **In simple terms:** Nature is steady and wise, unlike fleeting human life. Key Takeaway Learn from nature’s permanence. Themes philosophy nature human condition transience wisdom Mood reflective contemplative serene Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - environmental education - poetry analysis - mindfulness practices - counseling - literary criticism Key Concepts existentialism naturalism epistemology Questions to Reflect On - How does nature’s constancy influence personal perspective? - What can humans learn from natural cycles? A Different Perspective May romanticize nature and ignore human agency. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bird/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Countryside](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/countryside/) [Earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earth/) [Faces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faces/) [Flower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flower/) [Human beings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-beings/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Light](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/light/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Old man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/old-man/) [Old men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/old-men/) [Revelation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/revelation/) [Revelations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/revelations/) ## Related quotes > [Deprivation is for me what daffodils were for Wordsworth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-larkin/deprivation-is-for-me-what-daffodils-were-for-wordsworth/) [Philip Larkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-larkin/) > [Prior to Wordsworth, humor was an essential part of poetry. I mean, they don't call them Shakespeare comedies for nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-collins/prior-to-wordsworth-humor-was-an-essential-part-of-poetry-i-mean-they/) [William Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-collins/) > [ “He \[Wordsworth\] invited his readers to abandon their usual perspective and to consider for a time how the world might look through other eyes,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/he-wordsworth-invited-his-readers-to-abandon-their-usual-perspective/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [Perhaps the author cited is one of those, who, shunning the practice of the world, have taught the world to shun return! whose poetry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-laman-blanchard/perhaps-the-author-cited-is-one-of-those-who-shunning-the-practice-of/) [Samuel Laman Blanchard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-laman-blanchard/) > [“into which he placed a large-print copy of Wordsworth’s poem “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud.” To this he added the bookworms, who busily…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jasper-fforde/into-which-he-placed-a-large-print-copy-of-wordsworth-s-poem-i/) [Jasper Fforde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jasper-fforde/) > [“Though inland far we be, Our Souls have sight of that immortal sea Which brought us hither.” William Wordsworth,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hollis/though-inland-far-we-be-our-souls-have-sight-of-that-immortal-sea/) [James Hollis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hollis/) > [“A perfect woman, nobly planned, To warn, to comfort and command; And yet a Spirit still, and bright With something of an angelic light.”…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-t-ellison/a-perfect-woman-nobly-planned-to-warn-to-comfort-and-command-and-yet/) [J.T. 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Dale > [“Wordsworth and Keats and Shelley. Our teacher made us memorize the words to “Ode on a Grecian Urn,” and alone in the kitchen now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-baker-kline/wordsworth-and-keats-and-shelley-our-teacher-made-us-memorize-the/) [Christina Baker Kline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-baker-kline/) > [“Tonight, however, Dickens struck him in a different light. Beneath the author’s sentimental pity for the weak and helpless, he could discern a revolting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-irwin/tonight-however-dickens-struck-him-in-a-different-light-beneath-the/) Margaret Irwin > [“In speaking of this desire for our own far off country, which we find in ourselves even now, I feel a certain shyness. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/in-speaking-of-this-desire-for-our-own-far-off-country-which-we-find/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [“The course of English Literature would have been decidedly different had Mr. Wordsworth owned a power mower.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harper-lee/the-course-of-english-literature-would-have-been-decidedly-different/) [Harper Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harper-lee/) > [“Part of Wordsworth’s complaint was directed towards the smoke, congestion, poverty and ugliness of cities, but clean-air bills and slum clearance would not, by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/part-of-wordsworth-s-complaint-was-directed-towards-the-smoke/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) ## More by Robert Wilson Lynd > [It is almost impossible to remember how tragic a place the world is when one is playing golf.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-wilson-lynd/it-is-almost-impossible-to-remember-how-tragic-a-place-the-world-is/) [Robert Wilson Lynd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-wilson-lynd/) > [The belief in the possibility of a short decisive war appears to be one of the most ancient and dangerous of human illusions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-wilson-lynd/the-belief-in-the-possibility-of-a-short-decisive-war-appears-to-be/) [Robert Wilson Lynd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-wilson-lynd/) > [It is doubtful if even experience of riches and success is as intense among those who have experienced nothing else as among those who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-wilson-lynd/it-is-doubtful-if-even-experience-of-riches-and-success-is-as-intense/) [Robert Wilson Lynd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-wilson-lynd/) > [It is the custom when praising a Russian writer to do so at the expense of all other Russian writers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-wilson-lynd/it-is-the-custom-when-praising-a-russian-writer-to-do-so-at-the/) [Robert Wilson Lynd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-wilson-lynd/) > [Chekhov will seek out the key situation in the life of a cabman or a charwoman, and make them glow for a brief moment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-wilson-lynd/chekhov-will-seek-out-the-key-situation-in-the-life-of-a-cabman-or-a/) [Robert Wilson Lynd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-wilson-lynd/) > [When people complain of the decay of manners they have in mind not the impudent abbreviations of the crowd, but the decline in bowing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-wilson-lynd/when-people-complain-of-the-decay-of-manners-they-have-in-mind-not/) [Robert Wilson Lynd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-wilson-lynd/) > [The art of writing history is the art of emphasizing the significant facts at the expense of the insignificant. And it is the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-wilson-lynd/the-art-of-writing-history-is-the-art-of-emphasizing-the-significant/) [Robert Wilson Lynd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-wilson-lynd/) > [This is woman's great benevolence, that she will become a martyr for beauty, so that the world may have pleasure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-wilson-lynd/this-is-woman-s-great-benevolence-that-she-will-become-a-martyr-for/) [Robert Wilson Lynd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-wilson-lynd/) > [The mirror that Strindberg held up to Nature was a cracked one. It was cracked in a double sense -- it was crazy. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-wilson-lynd/the-mirror-that-strindberg-held-up-to-nature-was-a-cracked-one-it-was/) [Robert Wilson Lynd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-wilson-lynd/) > [It is in games that many men discover their paradise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-wilson-lynd/it-is-in-games-that-many-men-discover-their-paradise/) [Robert Wilson Lynd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-wilson-lynd/) > [W. B. Yeats has created, if not a new world, a new star. He is not a reporter of life as it is, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-wilson-lynd/w-b-yeats-has-created-if-not-a-new-world-a-new-star-he-is-not-a/) [Robert Wilson Lynd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-wilson-lynd/) > [On the whole, however, the critic is far less of a professional faultfinder than is sometimes imagined. He is first of all a virtue-finder,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-wilson-lynd/on-the-whole-however-the-critic-is-far-less-of-a-professional/) [Robert Wilson Lynd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-wilson-lynd/) > [Most human beings are quite likable if you don't see too much of them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-wilson-lynd/most-human-beings-are-quite-likable-if-you-don-t-see-too-much-of-them/) [Robert Wilson Lynd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-wilson-lynd/) > [There are two sorts of curiosity - the momentary and the permanent. The momentary is concerned with the odd appearance on the surface of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-wilson-lynd/there-are-two-sorts-of-curiosity-the-momentary-and-the-permanent-the/) [Robert Wilson Lynd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-wilson-lynd/) > [There is nothing in which the birds differ more from man than the way in which they can build and yet leave a landscape…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-wilson-lynd/there-is-nothing-in-which-the-birds-differ-more-from-man-than-the-way/) [Robert Wilson Lynd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-wilson-lynd/) [Explore all 32 Robert Wilson Lynd quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-wilson-lynd/) ## More Bird quotes > [And I have been very blessed, having coached some of the greatest that have ever played the game. But if I had to start…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/red-auerbach/and-i-have-been-very-blessed-having-coached-some-of-the-greatest-that/) [Red Auerbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/red-auerbach/) > [Some minds corrode and grow inactive under the loss of personal liberty; others grow morbid and irritable; but it is the nature of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/washington-irving/some-minds-corrode-and-grow-inactive-under-the-loss-of-personal/) [Washington Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/washington-irving/) > [Set the bird's wings with gold and it will never again soar in thesky.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/set-the-bird-s-wings-with-gold-and-it-will-never-again-soar-in-thesky/) [Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/) > [“He unfixes the metal notch and slips his hand around the body of the bird. Feels its heat, its small heart beating. He stares…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-schuyler/he-unfixes-the-metal-notch-and-slips-his-hand-around-the-body-of-the/) Nina Schuyler > [I would rather learn from one bird how to sing than to teach 10,000 stars how not to dance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-e-cummings/i-would-rather-learn-from-one-bird-how-to-sing-than-to-teach-10-000/) [e. e. cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-e-cummings/) > [Can you imagine any better example of divine creative accomplishment that the consummate flying machine that is a bird? The skeleton, very flexible and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-murchie/can-you-imagine-any-better-example-of-divine-creative-accomplishment/) [Guy Murchie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-murchie/) > [Surely, God could have caused birds to fly with their bones made of solid gold, with their veins full of quicksilver, with their flesh…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/galileo-galilei/surely-god-could-have-caused-birds-to-fly-with-their-bones-made-of/) [Galileo Galilei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/galileo-galilei/) > [And wheresoever, in his rich creation, Sweet music breathes--in wave, or bird, or soul-- 'Tis but the faint and far reverberation Of that great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-sargent-osgood/and-wheresoever-in-his-rich-creation-sweet-music-breathes-in-wave-or/) [Frances Sargent Osgood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-sargent-osgood/) > [A clock struck out the hour of twelve, and the bird in the hedgerow was still singing as we marched out to the roadway,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-macgill/a-clock-struck-out-the-hour-of-twelve-and-the-bird-in-the-hedgerow/) [Patrick MacGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-macgill/) > [Every wife ought to answer for her man. If the husband be engaged in a seditious club, or drinks mysterious healths, or be frugal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/every-wife-ought-to-answer-for-her-man-if-the-husband-be-engaged-in-a/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [Meanwhile, the trees were just as green as before; the birds sang and the sun shone as clearly now as ever. The familiar surroundings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/meanwhile-the-trees-were-just-as-green-as-before-the-birds-sang-and/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) > [When they started to drain a swamp where birds and fish had lived, for a new housing development down the road from his apartment,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maile-meloy/when-they-started-to-drain-a-swamp-where-birds-and-fish-had-lived-for/) [Maile Meloy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maile-meloy/) > [The bird with the thorn in its breast, it follows an immutable law; it is driven by it knows not what to impale itself,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colleen-mccullough/the-bird-with-the-thorn-in-its-breast-it-follows-an-immutable-law-it/) [Colleen McCullough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colleen-mccullough/) > [Real like sucks the life out of losers. if you want to fuck with the eagles, you must learn how to fly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/real-like-sucks-the-life-out-of-losers-if-you-want-to-fuck-with-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“If we studied birds ,maybe we could learn to be free.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-alire-s-enz/if-we-studied-birds-maybe-we-could-learn-to-be-free/) [Benjamin Alire Sáenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-alire-s-enz/) [Browse all 4,802 Bird quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bird/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "With Wordsworth, indeed, the light of revelation did not fall upon human beings so unbrokenly as upon the face of the earth. 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