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“Sweet is the lore which Nature brings.”
Nature is presented as a source of knowledge that can complement formal study by training attention and receptiveness.
Source note: The Tables Turned; the line follows Wordsworth’s claim that a vernal wood can teach moral insight.
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“Secrets lurk on all sides.”
The brief line frames observation as discovery: familiar landscapes still contain details that reward patience, questions, and repeated looking.
Source note: Wake-Robin; the phrase belongs to Burroughs’s description of the naturalist’s expectant attention to the world nearby.
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“How interesting everything is!”
Wonder becomes a method of attention: rocks, streams, plants, and animals all become invitations to learn rather than background scenery.
Source note: My First Summer in the Sierra, near the close of the summer journal.
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“Expectation is ever on tiptoe.”
Curiosity keeps the observer mentally ready because the next small discovery may appear before it can be predicted or scheduled.
Source note: Wake-Robin; Burroughs describes the anticipatory state created by close engagement with birds, seasons, and other natural signs.
Source identified
“"Watch and wait" is the naturalist's sign.”
Patient observation is presented as a working method: discovery often requires remaining attentive long enough for elusive natural behavior to become visible.
Source note: Pepacton. Burroughs writes “Watch and wait” after describing an observation that corrected a gap in his own natural-history knowledge; the phrase is practical field-observation advice in literary natural history.
Source identified
“Come forth into the light of things, Let Nature be your teacher.”
Direct attention to the natural world is offered as a form of learning that complements books and abstract study.
Source note: Poem “The Tables Turned.”