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Kelly Minear
Dr. VanLaningham
Romantic Age Paper #1
27 September 2017
“Tintern Abbey”

“With an eye made quiet by the power / of harmony, and the deep power of joy we see

into the life of things,” (48-50). This quote from William Wordsworth’s “Lines Written a Few

Miles above Tintern Abbey” accurately depicts, as he mentions, the power of nature when the

viewer allows the beauty inside to transform themselves. Wordsworth, a Romantic poet, captures

the essence of the individual experience in his poetry, and this particular poem explores his

individual experience when returning to a place after being absent for a long period of time.

Upon return, he finds his feelings for the place have only grown stronger over time, and he sees

the growth in himself after his observation of the natural world, a common theme from the

Romantic age. The vivid descriptions in William Wordsworth’s poem “Tintern Abbey” create

the individual experience for Wordsworth that allows him to have a dramatic reunion to his

childhood days and see the changes in himself even though the place itself has not changed.

Wordsworth welcomes himself back to this place near Tintern Abbey with great

excitement in the first section of the poem, and this homecoming begins as all similar reunions

do, by first expressing how long it has been since the last visit, followed by a reconnection and

enjoyment of the highlights of past experiences. Wordsworth spends the first two lines repeating

how long it has been since he was last at this place: “five years have passed; five summers, with

the length / of five long winters!” (1-2). The repetition in these lines further emphasizes the

length of time since the last visit. Next, he describes the highlights of this place, most likely the

sights and sounds he has missed most since the last visit. He uses repetition again, although this
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time repeating the words “once again,” “Once again / do I behold these steep and lofty cliffs

/…The day is come when I again repose / here, under this dark sycamore,…Once again I see /

these hedge-rows…” (4-5, 9-10, 15-16). Again, this repetition shows the reader the excitement

Wordsworth feels to be back, and the reader is able to recall a time of reunion where one

excitedly gushes about how everything is the same, exchanging stories from that time.

The part of the first section that contains Romantic elements is the focus on seclusion,

and although Wordsworth feels secluded, he is not alone. Despite this, this place still has

potential as a place for him to reflect. At first, the reader may assume this tree and river must be

located in the middle of the woods somewhere based on Wordsworth’s descriptions of great

seclusion and elaborate descriptions of the nature surrounding this place. However, at the end, he

talks about all the houses surrounding this area and describes all the people nearby. Fortunately,

Wordsworth is so absorbed in his personal homecoming to this place that he still feels alone and

secluded despite still being so close to civilization, which is shown on the last four lines of the

section when he compares the woods to a place where a hermit might live. Even though there are

houses nearby, this place is suitable for personal reflection and other Romantic activities as

shown through the descriptions of the landscape. He talks about how green the landscape is, the

trees and grasses are all green, and even the unripe fruits have a green shade that do not stick out

from the color scheme:

[I] view

These plots of cottage-ground, these orchard-tufts,

Which, at this season, with their unripe fruits,

Among the woods and copses lose themselves,

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Nor, with their green and simple hue, disturb

The wild green landscape (9-15).

These colors emphasize the connection with nature in this place, and the unripe fruits suggest a

potential in this place that has not been reached. This could be the possibilities of personal

reflection for Wordsworth or the likelihood of him returning to this place in the near future.

The next section shows the impact on Wordsworth’s personal experience because of this

place. He lists how viewing the place has helped him, and speaks of the place almost as if he

owes it a large debt. His description shows that the impact of this places has not been merely

external, but mainly internal, even though he has not spent a lot of time at this place, “Though

absent long, / these forms of beauty have not been to me, / as is a landscape to a blind man’s

eye,” (23-25). This means that even though he has not been physically present in this place, he

does not take it for granted, and knows he has been deeply impacted by the beauty. He does not

brush aside any of the feelings the nature gives him; rather, he absorbs all of them to his core,

which ultimately relieve him of any burden or hardship, as he mentions on lines 38-47. He gains

a powerful, healing presence from this place, “And even the motion of our human blood / almost

suspended, we are laid asleep / in body, and become a living soul,” (45-47). This place more than

makes Wordsworth feel calm and connected to nature, it gives him a life and a soul. Such a

notion is a clear element of Romanticism, and largely part of Wordsworth’s individual

experience.

Wordsworth’s experience would not be complete without some growth, which is not left

out of the poem. In the third section, he compares the person he was during his first visit as a boy

to his current visit after growing up and being away for so long. His descriptions of how he
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viewed this place in the past compared to the present are drastically different. “Their colours and

their forms, were then to me / an appetite: a feeling and a love, / that had no need of a remoter

charm” (80-82). His suggestion of an appetite shows his lack of self-control and appreciation as a

boy. This suggests the deep internal change that occurred in him because of this place. That, in

combination with growing up, allowed him to truly see and truly appreciate the beauty instead of

greedily and shallowly taking in the sights as a boy. He says soon after:

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 of ample power

To chasten and subdue (89-94).

This drastic change, perhaps the most drastic shift in the poem, are due to the experience he was

able to find through reflection at this place. Wordsworth criticizes the boy he once was, and how

he once greedily viewed nature, almost taking it for granted when he refers to his “thoughtless

youth.” He can now see the connections of this place to his own life, and he understands the

healing power connected to a special place like this, if one will only patiently sit and take in what

it has to offer.

Another dramatic shift occurs in the fifth section when the reader realizes that not only is

Wordsworth not in the middle of the woods, he isn’t even alone. His sister is with him, and he

spends the last bit hoping that she will not only appreciate this place as much as he does, but also
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remember that he was with her at this moment and this was his special place of comfort. He asks

her not to forget, “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,”

(152-156). This shows that while Wordsworth has grown up, he still feels some selfishness to his

personal connection to this place, and hopes that his sister remembers not only how they stood

together, but how great of a connection he has to this place. This causes the poem to end on an

interesting twist, but does not take away from the joyful reunion portrayed in the first sections of

the poem.

The reunion of William Wordsworth to the tree by Tintern Abbey parallels any reunion to

a childhood place, but shows how much one can change despite the childhood memory

remaining the same. This is shown through the deep connection and almost friendship with the

natural elements of this place. Wordsworth almost sorrowfully admits how foolish he was to take

this place for granted as a child, but in the end knows how much he has changed and credits that

to both the passing of time and the absence from that place.
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Work Cited

Wordsworth, William. “Lines Written a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey.” The Broadview

Anthology of British Literature: The Age of Romanticism, edited by Joseph Black,

Broadview Press 2014, pp. 221-223.