Plough
In the poem entitled "The Village: Book I’’, the narrator mentions how after the writers left the countryside and no longer wrote about pastoral subjects, the life of the peasants got harder as well. The people who lived in the country became unable to focus on literature and beauty and had instead to work hard to sustain themselves and their families. The plough is used in this context as a symbol, to suggest the harsh life the peasants had to deal with and also to represent the hard work they were performing to produce food and crops.
Do not profit from their hard labor
One of the common motifs in the poem "The Village: Book I’’ is that those who work the land and those who mine it are the most disadvantaged when it comes to profiting from their own work. The narrator notes that those people are the ones who are almost all the time in a state of hunger and who can’t escape poverty, no matter how hard their try. This idea is maintained until the end of the poem, thus making it a common motif.
Nature as the place where one's soul can recover
One of the common motifs found in the poems is the idea that nature is the proper place where a soul and find happiness and where it can recover. In this sense, the city is portrayed as a dangerous place for one’s soul while nature as being the place which brings a person closer to the Gods and to their spirituality.
Books are not prejudiced
One of the common motifs in the poem entitled "The Library’’ is the idea that books are the most impartial thing ever to exist on this earth. The narrator points out that books do not care if the person reading them are a king or a beggar and thus provides the same type of information for every person. Because of this, books are presented as being the only real source of knowledge and wisdom which can be used by any person at any time.
Books as a symbol for knowledge
The major symbol in the poem "The Library’’ are the books described by the narrator. These books are compared with gods, having the power to change people’s lives and to help them have a better life. Books are compared with gods, having the possibility to leave forever and helping those in need. The way books help people is through their knowledge and because of this books become a symbol used here for knowledge.
