Nature by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Summary: Nature by Henry Wadworth Longfellow is a poem comparing a child going to bed that has broken toys to the adult that is going to death.

Section One:

• Just like a mom takes a child to bed, and leave his(child) stuff behind

Section Two:

• The child looks at his stuff through the open door, and does not feel better knowing there are better toys

Section Three:

• Nature leads us just like a mom leads the child; taking away our "things" one at a time, leading us to rest

Section Four:

• We don't know if we want to go or stay, but are too tired to understand what we do not know

Other Notes:

• The child is not sure if he wants to go to bed, because half of him is so tired he wants to go and the other half wants to continue to play
• The child does not want to leave his "broken playthings" because the next toys may not make him as happy as the old ones
• Humans feel just like the child about going to sleep when it comes to death; the playthings to a grownup may be referring to the frailties of age; losing hearing, sight, mobility, etc

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