“You’re overtasked, good Simon Lee, Give me your tool” to him I said;
The speaker understands his moral obligation and becomes an active participant. Thinking is superseded by action.
12 Matching Annotations
- Mar 2018
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O reader! had you in your mind Such stores as silent thought can bring, O gentle reader! you would find A tale in every thing.
Here, Wordsworth urges readers to be more active participants in the unfolding story in order to find the message he is conveying.
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“God! who art never out of hearing, “O may he never more be warm!”
Goody places a curse on Harry, explaining his condition. Does he deserve it?
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Now think, ye farmers all, I pray, Of Goody Blake and Harry Gill.
Goody's fate is not revealed, but her curse on Harry remains. Despite his continued high class stature, he now knows what it is like for Goody to experience winter.
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The cold, cold moon above her head, Thus on her knees did Goody pray,
The moon, which represents nature to some degree, is both literally and figuratively cold, as it remains indifferent to the suffering it is causing.
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Right glad was he when he beheld her: Stick after stick did Goody pull, He stood behind a bush of elder, Till she had filled her apron full.
Harry chooses to extend her plight by waiting until she goes through the work of collecting the sticks, instead of announcing his presence immediately.
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And oft from his warm fire he’d go, And to the fields his road would take, And there, at night, in frost and snow, He watch’d to seize old Goody Blake.
Here, the phrasing mirrors the setup for Goody Blake's nightly tasks. Despite his wealth and own perpetual coldness, Harry chooses additional suffering if it means the chance of catching Goody in the act.
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And any man who pass’d her door, Might see how poor a hut she had.
This establishes a community that is aware of her impoverished state, but is unable to (or decides not to) provide assistance. Left on her own, she has few options for survival.
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old and poor, Ill fed she was, and thinly clad;
Goody Blake is introduced as lower class than Harry. Despite working as a spinner producing textiles, she has little clothes of her own.
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Of waistcoats Harry has no lack, Good duffle grey, and flannel fine;
It appears Harry is well off, if his access to numerous items of clothing is any indication.
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lusty drover
"Lusty" means healthy and strong; full of vigor. "Drover" refers to a person who moves animals over long distances. Combined, we see that Harry used to be in better health and this chattering was not a problem for him. What then, can explain this change?
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That evermore his teeth they chatter, Chatter, chatter, chatter still.
Chatter, in this context, refers to "a series of quick high-pitched sounds", which matches the repeated usage of the word itself.
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