How we cite our quotes: (Line)
Quote #1
I went to turn the grass once after one
Who mowed it in the dew before the sun. (1-2)
This poem puts us in nature right from the jump, as we follow the speaker out to an empty field. Say—this looks like the perfect place to dwell on the nature of human connection.
Quote #2
I looked for him behind an isle of trees;
I listened for his whetstone on the breeze.
But he had gone his way, the grass all mown,
And I must be, as he had been,—alone, (5-8)
The elements of nature here—trees, breeze, grass—all point to the speaker being alone in the world. Hopefully a butterfly or tuft of flowers will come along soon and cheer him up.
Quote #3
But he turned first, and led my eye to look
At a tall tuft of flowers beside a brook,A leaping tongue of bloom the scythe had spared
Beside a reedy brook the scythe had bared. (21-24)
Well, would you look at that? The arrival of the butterfly and—more importantly—the appearance of these passed-over flowers renews the speaker's faith in human connection. Maybe the natural world's not so isolating after all.