Wisdom is ofttimes nearer when we stoop / Than when we soar.

The couplet is from Wordsworth’s long autobiographical poem The Prelude, in a passage where he reflects on how insight often comes through humility, attention to ordinary experience, and a willingness to descend from lofty abstractions. In The Prelude, Wordsworth repeatedly contrasts “soaring” ambition or intellectual pride with the moral and imaginative education gained from close contact with common life and the natural world. The line belongs to that reflective mode: looking back on formative moments, he suggests that wisdom is not necessarily found in elevated status or grand theorizing, but in the lowered posture of receptiveness—stooping to observe, to listen, and to learn.

Wordsworth contrasts “stooping” with “soaring” to suggest that insight is often found not in lofty ambition or abstract speculation, but in humility and attention to ordinary, grounded experience. The line aligns with his broader poetic project of locating moral and spiritual meaning in common life and in close observation of nature. “Stoop” implies a willingness to descend—socially, intellectually, or emotionally—toward what is near at hand, including the perspectives of the humble and the lessons of daily reality. The couplet thus cautions against prideful elevation and celebrates a wisdom accessible through modesty, receptiveness, and intimacy with the immediate world.