--that serene and blessed mood
In which the affections gently lead us on,--
Until, the breath of this corporeal frame
And even the motion of our human blood
Almost suspended, we are laid asleep
In body, and become a living soul: (lines 41-46)
Here the speaker talks of how the memories lead him on, until his next physical reaction with nature. The speaker implies the memories lead him on until ‘the breath of this corporeal frame…’ enter his blood. Corporeal in the instance means physical which signifies how nature’s memories keep him going until his next interaction with nature and how when this happens he becomes a living soul or away from all negatives in everyday life. Wordsworth implies how the memories are more than remembrance of the physical beauty but a way of escaping the stresses of everyday life. For example, these memories can be used when you are depressed or stressed and you just think of your favorite serene spot of nature where all that surrounds you is peace and tranquility. Personally thinking of my ‘Tintern Abbey’, my family’s place in east Texas, helps me relax and clear my mind of whatever is bothering me.
Wordsworth’s next deeper meaning in nature is returning to nature and your past selves while encountering your ‘Tintern Abbey’.
If this
Be but a vain belief, yet, oh! how oft--
In darkness and amid the many shapes
Of joyless daylight; when the fretful stir
Unprofitable, and the fever of the world,
Have hung upon the beatings of my heart--
How oft, in spirit, have I turned to thee,
O sylvan Wye! thou wanderer thro' the woods,
How often has my spirit turned to thee!(ln. 50-57)
Here the speaker reencounters his place in nature. He says ‘How oft, in spirit, have I turned to thee, O sylvan Wye!’ which shows his going back to nature and how he remembers turning the Wye River. The speaker’s remembrances by looking around shows us what he had experienced at each spot and its unique role it has played in his life, both the memories and what it did for him in his earlier years of visiting.
While here I stand, not only with the sense/ Of present pleasure, but with pleasing thoughts/That in this moment there is life and food/For future years. (ln. 62-65)
In this passage, the speaker stands at his spot in nature and realizes that the revisit is more than pleasing thoughts but also a place for more reencounters of his past visits. Here Wordsworth’s once again shows how the reencounters of the speaker’s nature gives him pleasure but also pleasure in how there are more encounters like this to come. The speaker also revisits his past selves.
Though changed, no doubt, from what I was when first
I came among these hills; when like a roe
I bounded o'er the mountains, by the sides
Of the deep rivers, and the lonely streams,
Wherever nature led: more like a man
Flying from something that he dreads, than one
Who sought the thing he loved. For nature then
(The coarser pleasures of my boyish days
And their glad animal movements all gone by)
To me was all in all (ln. 66-75 )
Here the speaker physically revisits his past encounters with his ‘Tintern Abbey’. He realizes he has changed since his previous visits but how in his past he had different feelings of where he was. He remembers running around this place and how everything he experienced to him then in his boyish days was just ‘all in all’. By this he meant that all nature was to him then was his physical encounters, but now he realizes each revisit brings even more pleasure because of revisiting his past selves.
Finally, Wordsworth’s last deeper meaning of nature is expressed, sharing your experiences.
Nor perchance,
If I were not thus taught, should I the more
Suffer my genial spirits to decay:
For thou art with me here upon the banks
Of this fair river; thou my dearest Friend,
My dear, dear Friend; and in thy voice I catch
The language of my former heart, and read
My former pleasures in the shooting lights
Of thy wild eyes. (ln. 112-119)
In this excerpt, the speaker asks himself how could he let his ‘genial sprits to decay’ or lets his pleasurable feeling perish. So, the speaker shares his feelings towards nature with his ‘dearest friend’, his sister. Here the speaker says how he sees his pleasures, when shared with his sister, as ‘shooting lights of they wild eyes’. This is evidence for Wordsworth’s final deep meaning of nature. The speaker sharing his encounters and feelings give the speaker even more pleasure due to nature.
Thy memory be as a dwelling-place
For all sweet sounds and harmonies; oh! then,
If solitude, or fear, or pain, or grief,
Should be thy portion, with what healing thoughts
Of tender joy wilt thou remember me,
And these my exhortations!(ln. 141-146)
Here the speaker explains to his sister what nature will do for her. At the same time he is having great pleasure realizing what it is to him and how she will have the same feelings, and remember him with these beautiful experiences. Wordsworth once again demonstrates how sharing your experiences bring great pleasure to you and the one you share nature with. Next, the speaker once again shows his feelings of sharing nature.
We stood together; and that I, so long
A worshipper of Nature, hither came
Unwearied in that service: rather say
With warmer love--oh! with far deeper zeal
Of holier love. (ln. 151-155)
In this final passage, the speaker expresses his feelings of sharing his nature to a loved one. He says that as they stood together he realized the uncomplaining service that he had brought to his sister and how it was with very enthusiastic love. The speakers sharing his ‘Tintern Abbey’ brought him great pleasure in realizing that it had also brought great pleasure to who he shared it to, which demonstrates Wordsworth’s final deep meaning of nature, sharing your ‘Tintern Abbey’.
‘Tintern Abbey’ is a very profound poem which contains many deep meanings. William Wordsworth’s use of vivid physical descriptions is beautiful but as I have hopefully shown it’s his deeper meanings which make this poem so incredible.
Of absence, these steep woods and lofty cliffs,/ And this green pastoral landscape, were to me/ More dear, both for themselves and for thy sake!(ln. 157-159)
In this final excerpt the speaker sums up his feelings of nature and how the beauty and deep meanings of nature are so dear to him. As Joseph Duemer said “Wordsworth's most powerful early poem, "Tintern Abbey."” . Hopefully you feel the same about ‘Tintern Abbey’ as does Joseph Duemer and I. ‘Tintern Abbey’ expresses different deeper meanings in nature that should help you realize that nature is more than just beautiful scenery.
“A Few Lines Composed Above Tintern Abbey”
By: William Wordsworth
Analyzed by: Quentan Tobolka
"Introduction: 'Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey' by William Wordsworth." EXPLORING Poetry. Gale Research, 1998. Reproduced in Student Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale Group. October, 2001. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/SRC/hits?c=19&secondary=false&docNum=CD2114628688&sidebars=Yes&bConts=255&bucket=1&origSearch=false&t=RK&s=1&r=d&n=10&items=0&l=do&locID=tlc10remote1&SU=William+Wordsworth#SourceCitation
Duemer, Joseph, "William Wordsworth," Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 107: British Romantic Prose Writers, 1789-1832, First Series, Gale, 1991, pp. 310-25. DISCovering Authors. Gale Group, 1999. Reproduced in Student Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale Group. October, 2001.