Introduction
In Book VI of his groundbreaking poem ‘The Task’, William Cowper (‘cooper’) takes a lunchtime walk on a winter’s day. As he listens to the soft sounds of Nature, he reflects that for the thinking man time spent in the countryside is never wasted.
From ‘The Task’
NO noise is here, or none that
hinders thought.
The redbreast warbles still, but is content
With slender notes, and more than half suppressed:
Pleased with his solitude, and flitting light
From spray to spray, where’er he rests he shakes
From many a twig the pendant drops of ice,
That tinkle in the withered leaves below.
Stillness, accompanied with sounds so soft,
Charms more than silence. Meditation here
May think down hours to moments. Here the heart
May give a useful lesson to the head,
And learning wiser grow without his books.
Knowledge and Wisdom, far from being one,
Have oft times no connexion. Knowledge dwells
In heads replete with thoughts of other men;
Wisdom in minds attentive to their own.
Knowledge, a rude unprofitable mass,
The mere materials with which Wisdom builds,
Till smoothed, and squared, and fitted to its place,
Does but encumber whom it seems t’enrich.
Knowledge is proud that he has learned so much;
Wisdom is humble that he knows no more.
Précis
On a winter walk, poet William Cowper relished the quiet of the countryside, where the sounds were of birdsong. In such surroundings, he said, the distinction between knowledge and wisdom becomes clearer: book-learned knowledge can only be bricks and mortar, whereas wisdom alone is an architect that can turn them into a building with a purpose. (56 / 60 words)
On a winter walk, poet William Cowper relished the quiet of the countryside, where the sounds were of birdsong. In such surroundings, he said, the distinction between knowledge and wisdom becomes clearer: book-learned knowledge can only be bricks and mortar, whereas wisdom alone is an architect that can turn them into a building with a purpose.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 60 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 50 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: about, despite, if, just, must, ought, until, whether.
Word Games
Jigsaws Based on this passage
Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
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