17.  In Dorothy Wordsworth’s Journal for October 11, 1800, we read:  “After dinner, we walked up Greenhead Gill in search of a sheepfold. . .  The sheepfold is falling away.  It is built in the form of a heart unequally divided.”

48.  The meaning of all winds.  This is not a figurative Statement.  Michael knows by experience whether the sound and direction of the wind forebode storm or fair weather,—­precisely the practical kind of knowledge which a herdsman should possess.

51.  Subterraneous.  The meaning of this word has given rise to discussion.  “Subterraneous” cannot here be literally employed, unless it refer to the sound of the wind in hollow places, and beneath overhanging crags.

51-52.  Like the noise, etc.  Is there a special appropriateness in the use of a Scottish simile?  What is the general character of the similes throughout the poem?

56-77.  Wordsworth never attributes to Michael the subtler and more philosophical sensations which he himself derived from nature.  Such poems as The Prelude or The Excursion contain many elevated passages on the influence of nature, which would have been exceedingly inappropriate here.

115.  Scan this line.

121.  Nor cheerful.  The epithet seems not well chosen in view of the fact that all the circumstances of their life breathe a spirit of quiet cheerfulness.  Surely the light (129-131) was a symbol of cheer.

126.  Peculiar work.  Bring out the force of the epithet.

134.  Easedale.  Near Grasmere.  Dunmail-raise.  The pass leading from Grasmere to Keswick.  Raise.  A provincial word meaning “an ascent.”

139.  The evening star.  This name was actually given to a neighboring house.

143-152.  The love of Michael for Luke is inwrought with his love for his home and for the land which surrounds it.  These he desires at his death to hand down unencumbered to his son.  “I have attempted,” Wordsworth wrote to Poole, “to give a picture of a man of strong mind and lively sensibility, agitated by two of the most powerful affections of the human heart—­the parental affection and the love of property, landed property, including the feelings of inheritance, home and personal and family independence.”

145.  Scan this line.

169.  The clipping tree.  Clipping is the word used in the North of England for shearing. (Wordsworth’s note, 1800).

182.  Notice the entire absence of pause at the end of the line.  Point out other instances of run-on lines (enjambement).

259.  Parish-boy.  Depending on charity.

268-270.  Wordsworth added the following note on these lines:  “The story alluded to here is well known in the country.  The chapel is called Ing’s Chapel; and is on the right hand side of the road leading from Kendal to Ambleside.”