Wordsworth begins Tintern Abbey with the tranquil scene of nature as he is revisiting this place after Five years have passed; five summers, with the length/Of five long winters.

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SPIRITUAL GROWTH AND REJUVENATION IN TINTERN ABBEY

Wordsworth begins “Tintern Abbey” with the tranquil scene of nature as he is revisiting this place after “Five years have passed; five summers, with the length/Of five long winters”. This part of nature had such an impact on Wordsworth that he reflects on his memories in this place while he is away and unable to return over the course of five years. He expresses his vivid remembrance of the Wye by saying, “Though absent long, / These forms of beauty have not been to me, / As is a landscape to a blind man’s eye” Even though he is unable to visit this place physically, he often escapes there in his mind to experience the pleasure he once gained from its surroundings. It could be said that Wordsworth meant to convey the message that true wisdom as well as true religion may be gained through sensuous acuteness. In other words, there is much insight to be gained from nature’s offerings, whether spiritual or mental, but one must be in tune with nature in order to fully receive all it has to offer. Even though Wordsworth is pleased to be revisiting this place that he once treasured so dearly, he also notes that his outlook on life and nature has changed. to nature’s teachings.

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His previous perception of nature seemed to consume him as he then had an “appetite” for the “coulours” and “forms” of the mountains and woods that nature so graciously offered to him (80). This hungry appetite for nature soon fades, however, as he states “That time is past, and all its aching joys are now no more” (84-5). He describes this new outlook he has obtained as he states:

For I have learned

To look on nature, not as in the hour

Of thoughtless youth, but hearing oftentimes

The still, sad music of humanity,

Not harsh nor grating, though ...

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