Affirmation of the value of "wasted" moments spend idly observing the world-- or does poet have sudden realization of his life's emptiness and lack of purpose, despite (or even because of) the beauty and serenity of the pastoral scene?
2004-03-14
Added by: Denise Dabrowski
read side by side with Archaic Torso of Apollo by Rilke
Wasted... until now
2004-04-16
Added by: Tim
If the last line of the poem means that the time he spent viewing the environment was really a waste then the poem looses all meaning. The last line could be substituted with the exact opposite ex: "Ah, How wonderful nature is !" etc. and the overall poem would not change. However I think the speaker meant that up until that point his life had been a waste because he didn't appreciate the beauty in all areas of life.