What exactly did Wordsworth mean by the word “upon” in, Lines Left Upon a Seat in a Yew-Tree? Lena Tortorice addresses this specific question in her blog entry from April 10th, 2010. She narrows her focus on the use of the word “upon” metaphorically rather than literally. Specifically Lena believes the tree is a parallel to the man’s life; its formation and character reflect that of the man, and the tree’s everlasting presence is the man’s unwritten story.
This interpretation differs greatly from mine but was nonetheless very insightful and helped me better understand the poem as a whole. As I will later demonstrate, I believe that both interpretations complement and build upon one another. Lena points out that the man in his youth was “pure in his heart” but later in life, his spirits were broken. Accordingly, the tree grew wild with bent branches serving as a metaphor to the man’s broken spirit. The very soul of the man was fed and sustained by pride and in following the suit the tree was described as desolate and lonely. Not only is the man’s life recorded by the tree but also his feelings. This is where my focus differs from Lena’s as I concentrated on the oppression of the man because of his pride. As I discussed in my previous blog – pride stops us from viewing nature aesthetically for we become to consumed in our own lives to take notice. But Wordsworth believes that true knowledge leads to love, and quite possibly if the man had learned to see the beauty of the natural world he could have learned to love as well.
Wordsworth does not tell us the story of the Yew-Tree, instead he only gives us parallels between the tree and the old man. But the man was full of deadly pride – a sin that was left upon the tree as well. The man’s prideful life was empty, and unfruitful just like the tree was barren of leaves. But is a barren tree less aesthetically pleasing then one full of leaves? As pictured above, a sparse yew can be aesthetically pleasing to the senses. However Wordsworth's Yew-Tree is a record of events from the man’s life, as well as a record of his feelings. Thus leaving the consuming emotion of pride upon the tree. The story of the man is a negative one associated by isolation. The tree ultimately becomes isolated from the rest of the natural world and its beauty, mainly because of its negative association with pride and despair.
The tree ignores what the future holds because it is so deeply intertwined in the emotions and life of the man. The old Yew-Tree tells us exactly what it saw in the man through the story metaphorically imprinted upon its natural body. Although the old man has passed – his emotions live on through the tree depriving it of ascetic value and ultimately love.
The Celtic song, “The Yew Tree” reinforces the power and great personality of such trees. The shadows of Scotland are embedded upon the tree in the song just like the man’s story is upon Wordsworth Yew Tree. Both trees will continue to tell their stories of the past as time constantly moves forward for they have been profoundly influenced by human life.
Sources - Tortorise, Lena. http://lenateng.blogspot.com/2010/04/lines-left-upon-seat-in-yew-tree.html#comments, posted on April 10th, 2010.
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