Book Twelfth, Lines 313-349

In the lines preceding this section, Wordsworth has described his view of poets as prophets, privileged with a sense that allows them to see the unseen. Beginning with line 313, he proceeds to tell of the one most significant time when he himself felt he had that poetic gift. Through the progression of images in this anecdote, he further develops his view of man’s relationship with nature.
First, the trackless downs and bare roads inspire a vision of ancient Britons in barbaric habit, shaking their spears. Wordsworth notes that the image is not without “majesty,” but there is a sense of restlessness in this first stage of the vision; nature has inspired a vision of man rather than a classic sense of the sublime, which begins to illustrate a relationship, but balance has not yet been reached.
As Wordsworth delves deeper into his own reverie, the ancient barrows lead him to imagine scenes of human sacrifice by the Druids. He seems to hear the groans of the victims echoing through the downs. This is a very dark and gruesome image, inspired by the burial mounds—which are technically an example of man’s collaboration with nature, but it is the wrong kind of collaboration, a twisted form of the relationship.
The final image in the sequence leaves Wordsworth “gently charmed.” It comes about when he sees “lines, circles, mounts, a mystery of shapes” on the ground, again Druid constructs, but in this case in harmony with nature. This example of the Druids’ work represents their love and recognition of the constellations, forming on the earth an image mirroring the stars. In this final scene, man has finally settled into a balance with nature. The restlessness and violence are gone, and man is now inspired by nature, seeking to emulate it. This seems to reflect Wordsworth’s concept of the ideal relationship between man and nature.
Through this progression, Wordsworth traces a curve of man’s interaction and communion with nature—a curve that passes from its incitement through conflict and is resolved in harmony. In the end, the vision is accompanied by “music,” “stillness and a pleasant sound.” Wordsworth’s vision has resulted in a peaceful and harmonious relationship between man and nature, a glimpse of the poetic truth for which the prophet-poets he has described have a sense.