William Wordsworth’s eight-line versanelle, “ On The Banks Of A Rocky Stream,” packs much into a small space. The Romantic flavor explodes into the cosmic, leaving an array of beauty and wisdom that appeal even to the most logical, linear mind.
With the addition of a sestet, the eight lines might have constituted the octave of a Petrarchan sonnet with the rime scheme, ABBCACDD. However, along with the many qualities that structure the versanelle, the brevity places the piece squarely in the latter category.
First Line: “Behold an emblem of our human mind”
The first line of the poem directs the reader/listener’s attention to his/her own “human mind,” in which the speaker detects the possession of “an emblem.” The speaker commands his potential listener/reader to look at this important emblem. Such a command arouses in the reader’s consciousness the premise that a momentous event must be on the horizon.
