In William Wordsworth’s poem, Nuns Fret Not at Their Convent’s Narrow Room, the narrator convinces the reader that although work may seem like a “prison” (Wordsworth 8), satisfaction may always be found in limitation and lack of liberty. He is able to prove his point by giving many examples of people and animals that are able to find happiness in contribution. The narrator acknowledges the burden of working, yet writes that it is the worker who creates the so-called  “prison” (Wordsworth 8). He is able to successfully prove his point by writing the poem in sonnet form, which restricts his poem to only fourteen lines, but allows him to get his argument across with ease.

The narrator begins the sonnet with an exact repetition of the title, “Nuns fret not at their convent’s narrow room” (Wordsworth 1). This reiteration shows the reader the importance of the first line because the reader has to read this statement more than once. Nuns are women who live under vows of poverty, abstinence, and obedience and dedicate themselves to the holy church. The narrator tells us that these women are not anxious with their confined way of life or their small amount of workplace. Even with constraints and strict religious order, these women are still able to commit to work with peace. In the second line, hermits who live in solitude are reported to be “contented with their cells” (Wordsworth 2). “A hermit must live in a state of being, that transcends the physical into the mystical and eventually transforms into a oneness with the Lord God” (Who is a Hermit?), although a hermit might be a great calling, the narrator used the word “cell” which is synonymous to a small cage and reminds the reader of a prison. However, hermits, like nuns, are content with this way of life. Perhaps limitation within religion gives these individuals a sense of purpose and devotes them to a fulfilling cause.

The following lines speak of maids, weavers, and students, noting that they are “blithe and happy” (Wordsworth 4). The connotation of the word “maid” is harsh because maids were known many years ago as the lowest of the lowest class and usually were women. They dedicated their lives to their line of work and were unable to marry (The History of Maids). Weavers were also known to be part of the lower class, and created clothing for the upper class. The narrator depicts students as prisoners, saying they could be found in “pensive citadels” (Wordsworth 3). This imagery tells the reader that the students are restricted to some fortified place and forced into deep thought. While reading, most of these examples give a negative connotation of people doing work. Yet, these groups of people are still happy because they are all working to achieve a specific goal to the best of their ability.

After using several examples of types of humans who work, the narrator uses the honeybee an example of a creature that must do work. Without the help of bees, the human race would cease to exist eventually. “We may lose all the plants that bees pollinate, all of the animals that eat those plants and so on up the food chain. Which means a world without bees could struggle to sustain the global human population of 7 billion” (What Would Happen If Bees Went Extinct). The narrator used the specific example of a bee to prove that although they have a very strenuous, important job, they are able to find happiness. This happiness is demonstrated in the narrator’s use of the phrases “soar for bloom” (Wordsworth 5) and “High as the highest peak of Furness-fells” (Wordsworth 6). 

After many examples, the narrator gives us insight to the reality of work: “In truth the prison, unto which we doom ourselves, no prison is” (Wordsworth 8). Work is crucial to society to maintain production and order, but it is not mandatory. Humans and animals could choose to stop working or to die off, and there would be others to continue this work. We, humans, create our own prison. 

Towards the end of the poem, the narrator ties his examples together and proves his point by using himself as an example: “And hence for me, in sundry moods, ‘twas pastime to be bound within the sonnet’s scanty plot of ground” (Wordsworth 10). Although he had plenty to write about, he limited his writing to only fourteen lines. The narrator seems grateful to be limited in his writing, because if he were given too much freedom, he could experience difficulty in getting his point across through writer’s block, distractions, or lack of things to say. The narrator recommends this sonnet form to his readers by informing them that they could find apprehension in large amounts of writing: “Pleased if some souls… felt the weight of too much liberty” (Wordsworth 13). 

The narrator gathered strong examples of nuns, hermits, students, maids, weavers, and bees, which were able to demonstrate the importance of work while also showing that these people could be happy while doing so. In the beginning of the poem, the narrator uses people of the working class as examples of people who were satisfied with what they do. Later on, he proves his point by showing the reader he can get his point across in fourteen lines. He ended the sonnet by notifying the reader that his restrictions have brought him a “brief solace” (Wordsworth 14). The burden of work is common to most people, but the narrator is able to remind the reader that sometimes, structure helps workers do their job to the best of their ability.
