tintern abbey

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Samantha Kumbula

Lines composed a few miles above Tintern Abbey

Essay

In Wordsworth’s "Tintern Abbey" the poem begins as we are taken from the height of a mountain stream down into the valley where the poet sits under a sycamore tree surveying the beauty of the natural world. This introduction through nature sets the scene for the poet's blending of his mind with that of the natural world. Here Wordsworth does not dwell on the imprint of mankind on the landscape but on the connection of an isolated individual enveloped within the wild world of nature. Although he refers to the presence of man - vagrant dwellers or hermits his connection is with the untouched splendour of the countryside.

From his perspective, looking out on the verdant landscape, the speaker ties his connection with nature to the past. He remembers that during his long absence from the Wye Valley, years which he spent
 in the city, he found consolation in calling back the memories of his time spent in nature ‘But oft, in lonely rooms, and mid the dim Of towns and cities, I have owned to them, In hours of weariness, sensations sweet, Felt in the blood, and felt along the heart.’ It is important to note here that Wordsworth is not merely finding comfort in fondly remembering a past holiday, but is unequivocally using the natural setting as his source for transcendence. By specifically using nature as his escape from ‘...the heavy and weary weight Of all this unintelligible world’ , he asserts that the purity of nature holds no ill memories of man's unkindness. This ability to gradually retreat from the trials of daily life by calling to mind the solace found in nature is key to the concept that only through withdrawal from the world of society and immersion in the natural world can one rise above present strife.

Wordsworth continues speaking of his connection with nature to the past by relating how nature has held prominence during all stages of his past life. But here he also imparts the importance his intimacy with nature will have in his
 as he states ‘that in this moment there is life and food For future years’. Wordsworth realizes that the memories of the past will continue to provide pleasure and connection even as he grows old.

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In the final refrain, the poem suddenly shifts perspective back to the present and instead of considering his own connection with nature, Wordsworth now turns his attention to being in the sylvan valley with his sister, Dorothy. He compares his sisters simple, intense pleasure on nature with his own at the earlier stages of his life. He parlays that she will benefit from the love of nature as he has done and find in it solace from the ‘dreary’ scenes of adult life. However, Wordsworth’s message to the readers seems didactic as he addresses what he is meant ...

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