Oppression (Exhaustion) in Learning

You're depleted — by a punishing schedule, a subject that won't yield, or the grind of effort that shows no return. The Judgment's odd counsel is to press less, not harder: cramming against a tired mind is battering at stone (line 3), and it undermines the very retention it chases. Much of the oppression is manufactured inwardly — "I'm just not clever enough," "I'll never pass" — false beliefs that exhaust more thoroughly than the material does. Resist the mood's furniture: don't settle under the bare tree and make the gloomy valley your study (line 1). Rest properly, thin the workload to what's real, and cultivate a stubborn calm the situation seems least to deserve.

Beginning a course while already drained is its own trap: the ambition is there but the tank is empty (line 2 — comfortable enough on the surface, flat underneath). Don't launch by forcing a grand syllabus; help arrives slowly and can't be hurried. Uproot the oppressive verdicts before the first lesson — "too old to learn this," "everyone starts younger" — vines, not stone, real only while believed (line 6). Set a small, honest first task and keep faith with why you're studying at all (the image: staking your will on the true course). The quiet cheerfulness held in a hard start is not naivety; it is the fuel that lasts.