According to C.S. Lewis, this poem involves "the story of the 'Arch-mourner', the youthful Architrenius, who, in mere despair at the wickedness within him and about him, sets out to seek his mother Nature and be healed. His journeys lead him through many places, including the university of Paris and the island of Thule, thus offering the author the opportunity for lavish satiric description, before the wanderer finally meets Nature. The account of the university is said to be of great interest to the social historian (see reference to Gibbon below), but... gives us an early example of the allegory in the form of a journey—that is, in its best form." Lewis continues: "A universal longing is expressed and, but for the language, the lines might have been written in any age: