Why should a tear be in an old man's eye?.
Why should we thus with an untoward mind,.
And in the weakness of humanity,.
From natural wisdom turn our hearts away,.
To natural comfort shut our eyes and ears,.
And, feeding on disquiet, thus disturb.
The calm of Nature with our restless thoughts? (192-98).
Armytage reflects here on the fact that only humans turn away from the natural cycles of life and death and that we do not listen to the natural wisdom which all creatures have. He says that we are weak because we do not react to death as other animals do, but I am not sure I agree. It is human nature to mourn the death of loved ones. It is not our "natural wisdom" that creates our grief, but the nature that has come from our lives in society. We do not live like the other animals in the world, and our different ways of living have obviously affected our customs. It is the custom of an animal not to grieve, but the custom of humans is to mourn what we have loved. Although it would be easier if we could all go throughout life without those feelings of tragic loss, it is in the loss that we are able to find life so much sweeter. Perhaps for humans life is more precious than it is for the other animals, because we have the capability to mourn and we know that life is short and should be cherished, so through that humans are able to improve their lives. .
It seems that "natural wisdom" is a callous thing, in fact, it seems that most of nature is harsh. The reader of "The Ruined Cottage" sees the decay of the cottage and how nature has ravaged it with weeds and "rank spear grass"(108). It appears to be a vicious world, but in fact, that image could also appear much less gruesome. The cottage has fallen and now the natural world that it once imposed its form upon can take back what it rightfully owns. The cottage is now one with nature, as is Margaret, its owner. Armytage reaches that conclusion at the end of the poem, where he finally seems to enjoy a least a small bit of comfort.
