Can anyone explain this poem?

Question

Can anyone explain this poem?
Valedictory Sonnet to the River Duddon
By William Wordsworth
I THOUGHT of Thee, my partner and my guide,
As being pass'd away.--Vain sympathies!
For, backward, Duddon! as I cast my eyes,
I see what was, and is, and will abide;
Still glides the Stream, and shall for ever glide;
The Form remains, the Function never dies;
While we, the brave, the mighty, and the wise,
We Men, who in our morn of youth defied
The elements, must vanish;--be it so!
Enough, if something from our hands have power
To live, and act, and serve the future hour;
And if, as toward the silent tomb we go,
Through love, through hope, and faith's transcendent dower,
We feel that we are greater than we know.

Answer 1

In a nutshell, this guy is on his favorite river, thinking he's mastered it, and that makes him feel all powerful for a second...then he realizes that the river is going to be there long after he will, and so he's basking in the glory of the river because he also wants to do something lasting...

In other words, nature is greater than we are, not the other way around...and if we can so something meaningful we can come close to nature's power...

Answer 2

He's talking about the river, even though it flows past him, he realizes the river is permanent and humans are mortal and vanish, while the river remains, even though we feel brave, mighty, powerful etc... we move on toward the tomb, or death.

Answer 3

It sounds like someone is dying, thinking about a loved one and God.. Looking back on their youth, where they have come from.. At the end seeing life more clearly and how mankind's mortality on this earth is really more fragile than we know..

Answer 4

He's saying that when love has gone he must remain strong. He is a man and men cannot cry, they must go on.

Answer 5

It's asking "who are we" - we have the opportunity to be anything and we make our lives what it will. It is in our hands.

Basically, in our suffering comes our greatest joy.

Answer 6

someone died...the writer is realizing that death is beyond his control and that it is selfish of him to try to keep ppl here (alive)...we tend to think we're invincible and we're not...its best to surrender and realize that things are beyond our control but memories never die