Summary

“The Tables Turned” begins with the speaker calling upon the reader to rise up and renounce their books in order that they might “grow double” (2). The speaker then goes on to describe the splendor of the sun rising above the mountain and the fields, juxtaposing its beauty with the “dull and endless strife” of books (9). They once again beckon to the reader to “come, hear the woodland linnet,/how sweet his music,” claiming there is “more of wisdom in it” than in books (10-12). They also cite the beautiful song of the throstle and call for the reader to “let Nature be your teacher” (16).

In the fifth stanza, the speaker elaborates on the value of learning from nature, saying it “has a world of ready wealth” and can offer both wisdom and truth through its health and cheerfulness (17). In the sixth stanza...