I find the back-and-forth style of “Expostulation and Reply,” to be a pretty unique approach. It allows Wordsworth to provide an argument-counter-argument spoken directly by the two characters in the poem. This is something which we don’t get to see very often in poetry.
I especially like Wordsworth’s response to the expostulation posed in the first half of the poem. According to the speaker, much like how we cannot tell our eyes to stop seeing or ears to stop hearing, we cannot stop these “powers” which drive us to contemplative passiveness. This passiveness allows one to gain access to an insight which affords the forsaking of books and of literature. While Matthew, the other speaker in the poem, tells the other man that he is “dream[ing] your time away,” Wordsworth sees his actions very differently. He claims that he does not need the words of other men to enlighten his mind. Much like the first man in creation, Wordsworth can peacefully commune with nature, and that will provide significant peace of mind enough for him.
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