William Wordsworth

Spots of time

There are in our existence spots of time
That with distinct pre-eminence retain
A renovating virtue, whence . . . our minds
Are nourished and invisibly repaired;
A virtue, by which pleasure is enhanced,
That penetrates, enables us to mount,
When high, more high, and lifts us up when fallen.
This efficacious spirit chiefly lurks
Among those passages of life that give
Profoundest knowledge to what point, and how,
The mind is lord and master–outward sense
The obedient servant of her will. Such moments
Are scattered everywhere, taking their date
From our first childhood.

– from The Prelude

This important concept in Wordsworth's poetry refers to intense emotional experiences in life that could be recalled by the imagination to revitalise and renew poetic strength.

Following the above explanation of 'spots of time' in The Prelude, Wordsworth provides a couple of examples: the lonely girl at the moorland beacon and the wild crag where he watched for the horses which would take him home from school.

The television programme presented two or three other examples of Wordsworth's 'spots of time'. Can you recall what these were?