How sacred and how innocent / a country life appears!
-- Speaker (Lines 1-2)

Importance: In these first lines of the poem, the speaker introduces both the principal theme of the poem and its main argument. She indicates that this poem will be about the "country life" (2). She also prefigures the conclusions that the poem will draw about this life: that it is both "sacred" and "innocent" (1). She therefore introduces both religious and social value systems, which are significant throughout the poem.

This was the first and happiest life
-- Speaker (Line 5)

Importance: The speaker introduces the poem's first section: a reflection on the idealized past, or golden age, in which all humanity dwelt in the "county life" (2). The imagery used here draws on the Christian story of the Garden of Eden. The speaker assumes the veracity of this story, arguing that the "first" existence of humanity was in an idealized, natural setting (5). This provides readers with a history against...