This being my final blog, I would just like to state that I am barely resisting the strong urge to entirely utilize this entry to recount all of my thoughts on the past semester. I do want to say a few things though, since I know that this is actually being read.

First, I would like you to know (yes, you Mr. Teacher Man) that you have been an excellent teacher this semester. I really learned a great deal about many topics to which I would have probably otherwise never have been exposed. I enjoyed the format of the class, even though this last week has been very hectic due to an unwisely large amount of procrastination on my part.

Second, and on a very sincere note, I have a lot of respect for you as a person. You have a visible strength and confidence that guides you in your demeanor and even certain mannerisms. You experienced a huge loss right in the midst of all sorts of other work that needed to be done, which would have decimated me; yet, you somehow managed to pull yourself up by your bootstraps and return to class to fulfill your obligations and responsibilities with only the slightest of changes to the class schedule. To me, that is incredible and warrants at least one person speaking up in recognition of your diligence and commitment – I know everyone in the class agrees.

Third, it was extremely refreshing to have a teacher who is knowledgeable in more than just his subject area, clearly conveys his ideas while not forcing them onto anyone, and is capable of maintaining such witty and lighthearted yet ever-so-articulate and cohesive classroom banter. I enjoy being around intelligent people, so your class has been a real pleasure. Thank you.

Now, enough of that – I have one more Wordsworth poem to toss your way: the first one in the packet we received that begins, “I travelled among unknown men,” to clarify. The poetic voice expresses a wistful longing to always remain on the shores of England. He no longer wishes to travel, because in doing so he feels he is abandoning at least one person that he cares strongly about. While there is no definitive indication as to whether the identity of “she I cherished” and “Lucy” are one and the same, either interpretation points towards a certain nostalgia stemming from the death (or disappearance) of Lucy. Now, the voice may still be left with the one he “cherished” if the interpretation you select is the one involving two women in the poem, but, at any rate, he makes it abundantly clear that being “among thy [England’s] mountains” is where he feels most content. He doesn’t plan to go off again. I got a little bit of a homesick impression from this poem alongside the nostalgia. It is almost as if the only thing that he has left of his Lucy is the memory of her playing in the fields of these mountains and cannot emotionally afford to lose that.