Romance, who loves to nod and sing, With drowsy head and folded wing, Among the green leaves as they shake Far down within some
shadowy lake, To me a painted paroquet Hath been- a most familiar bird- Taught me my alphabet to say- To lisp my very earliest word While in the wild wood I did lie, A child- with a most knowing eye. Of late, eternal Condor years So shake the very Heaven on high With tumult as they thunder by, I have no time for idle cares Through gazing on the unquiet sky. And when an hour with calmer wings Its down upon my spirit flings- That little time with lyre and rhyme To while away- forbidden things! My heart would feel to be a crime Unless it trembled with the strings. What theme of the poem does the first stanza reveal? Nature is the world’s teacher. Romantic notions shape one’s youth. Children should spend time outside. Nature is full of romantic notions Mark this and return
I would say that the first stanza reveals the theme that romantic notions shape one's youth. The narrator is saying how what he felt in his youth shaped his young life - he is saying that romance "taught me my alphabet to say," meaning that it helped him learn about life. In the next stanza, he is trying to say that when we are older, we often remember these moments with fondness.
