"Expostulation and Reply," William Wordsworth's reflection on nature's inherent wisdom, was first printed in Lyrical Ballads, his 1798 collaboration with Samuel Taylor Coleridge. In this poem, the speaker's friend bursts in on the speaker as he quietly sits on a stone and asks him why on earth he's not inside with his books, storing up wisdom. The speaker replies that there's a certain kind of wisdom that one can only passively absorb: sitting receptively in nature can teach one deep, subtle lessons that don't fit into any book. Along with its sister poem "The Tables Turned," this poem makes a profoundly Romantic declaration of faith in the power of "wise passiveness."
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The Full Text of “Expostulation and Reply”
1"Why William, on that old grey stone,
2Thus for the length of half a day,
3Why, William, sit you thus alone,
4And dream your time away?
5"Where are your books?—that light bequeathed
6To Beings else forlorn and blind!
7Up! up! and drink the spirit breathed
8From dead men to their kind.
9"You look round on your Mother Earth,
10As if she for no purpose bore you;
11As if you were her first-born birth,
12And none had lived before you!"
13One morning thus, by Esthwaite lake,
14When life was sweet, I knew not why,
15To me my good friend Matthew spake,
16And thus I made reply:
17"The eye—it cannot choose but see;
18We cannot bid the ear be still;
19Our bodies feel, where’er they be,
20Against, or with our will.
21"Nor less I deem that there are Powers
22Which of themselves our minds impress;
23That we can feed this mind of ours
24In a wise passiveness.
25"Think you, ’mid all this mighty sum
26Of things for ever speaking,
27That nothing of itself will come,
28But we must still be seeking?
29"—Then ask not wherefore, here, alone,
30Conversing as I may,
31I sit upon this old grey stone,
32And dream my time away."
The Full Text of “Expostulation and Reply”
1"Why William, on that old grey stone,
2Thus for the length of half a day,
3Why, William, sit you thus alone,
4And dream your time away?
5"Where are your books?—that light bequeathed
6To Beings else forlorn and blind!
7Up! up! and drink the spirit breathed
8From dead men to their kind.
9"You look round on your Mother Earth,
10As if she for no purpose bore you;
11As if you were her first-born birth,
12And none had lived before you!"
13One morning thus, by Esthwaite lake,
14When life was sweet, I knew not why,
15To me my good friend Matthew spake,
16And thus I made reply:
17"The eye—it cannot choose but see;
18We cannot bid the ear be still;
19Our bodies feel, where’er they be,
20Against, or with our will.
21"Nor less I deem that there are Powers
22Which of themselves our minds impress;
23That we can feed this mind of ours
24In a wise passiveness.
25"Think you, ’mid all this mighty sum
26Of things for ever speaking,
27That nothing of itself will come,
28But we must still be seeking?
29"—Then ask not wherefore, here, alone,
30Conversing as I may,
31I sit upon this old grey stone,
32And dream my time away."
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“Expostulation and Reply” Summary
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“Expostulation and Reply” Themes
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Natural Wisdom vs. Human Knowledge
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Actively Seeking vs. Passively Receiving Knowledge
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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Expostulation and Reply”
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Lines 1-4
"Why William, on that old grey stone,
Thus for the length of half a day,
Why, William, sit you thus alone,
And dream your time away? -
Lines 5-8
"Where are your books?—that light bequeathed
To Beings else forlorn and blind!
Up! up! and drink the spirit breathed
From dead men to their kind. -
Lines 9-12
"You look round on your Mother Earth,
As if she for no purpose bore you;
As if you were her first-born birth,
And none had lived before you!" -
Lines 13-16
One morning thus, by Esthwaite lake,
When life was sweet, I knew not why,
To me my good friend Matthew spake,
And thus I made reply: -
Lines 17-20
"The eye—it cannot choose but see;
We cannot bid the ear be still;
Our bodies feel, where’er they be,
Against, or with our will. -
Lines 21-24
"Nor less I deem that there are Powers
Which of themselves our minds impress;
That we can feed this mind of ours
In a wise passiveness. -
Lines 25-28
"Think you, ’mid all this mighty sum
Of things for ever speaking,
That nothing of itself will come,
But we must still be seeking? -
Lines 29-32
"—Then ask not wherefore, here, alone,
Conversing as I may,
I sit upon this old grey stone,
And dream my time away."
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“Expostulation and Reply” Symbols
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The Old Grey Stone
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Books
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“Expostulation and Reply” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
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Chiasmus
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Personification
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Repetition
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Metaphor
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Imagery
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Alliteration
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Assonance
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“Expostulation and Reply” Vocabulary
Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.
- Bequeathed
- Else
- Forlorn
- The spirit breathed from dead men to their kind
- Bore
- Esthwaite lake
- Spake
- Bid the ear be still
- Where'er
- Powers which of themselves our minds impress
- 'mid
- Wherefore
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Expostulation and Reply”
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Form
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Meter
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Rhyme Scheme
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“Expostulation and Reply” Speaker
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“Expostulation and Reply” Setting
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Literary and Historical Context of “Expostulation and Reply”
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More “Expostulation and Reply” Resources
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External Resources
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Lyrical Ballads — Take a look at the 1798 first edition of Lyrical Ballads, the world-changing collection in which this poem was first printed.
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A Brief Biography — Visit the British Library's website to learn more about Wordsworth's life and work.
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The Poem in Context — Watch a short video from the Wordsworth Trust, in which scholar Catherine Kay discusses this poem's relationship to its sister poem, "The Tables Turned."
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Wordsworth's World — Learn more about the historical and literary context in which this poem was first published.
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The Poem Aloud — Listen to Wordsworth's great-great-great-great-grandson giving a lively reading of the poem.
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LitCharts on Other Poems by William Wordsworth
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