In his concluding paragraph, Thoreau develops two metaphors regarding time and the intellect. Cite them and discuss their effect.
With the concluding paragraph Thoreau gives an ending to his simplistic ideas. Through the two metaphors in the conclusion, Thoreau gives his idea on how he wants to portray time and what he considers intellect. "Time is but the stream I go afishing in." That although one takes part in enjoying the stream, meaning time; one only looks at the shallowness of it. This is a metaphor to the way we portray our lifetime. As we work for the future, we only see the minuteness we have left of it although it goes on forever. The other metaphor "I have always been regretting that I was not as wise as the day I was born," refers to the sense which as we are born that we have. Compared to now, as babies, we did enjoy life without complicating ourselves with the curiosity why things happen. Everything just flowed as it was supposed to be and without worries about what's ahead.
