![]() Stanza 5: The speaker directly addresses his sister (presumably Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy), hoping that she also will recognize both the beauty and the spiritual presence in nature. The guide, the guardian of my heart, and soul The anchor of my purest thoughts, the nurse, Of eye and ear,-both what they half create,Īnd what perceive well pleased to recognise Therefore am I stillįrom this green earth of all the mighty world Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns,Īnd the blue sky, and in the mind of man:Īll thinking things, all objects of all thought,Īnd rolls through all things. Nor harsh nor grating, though of ample power Of thoughtless youth but hearing oftentimes This passage encapsulates the concept of Romantic mysticism. In lines 107–111, he states that in nature he recognizes a divine presence, what he calls “the guide, the guardian of my heart, and soul of all my moral being.” Nature is a means of perceiving a spiritual presence in the world. Second, he informs the reader why nature draws his attention to the needs of humanity. First, in lines 90–93, he acknowledges that nature brings to mind “the still, sad music of humanity.” Nature is important because it turns his thoughts to humanity. Later in stanza 4, the speaker explains why remembering the beauties of nature can cause him to feel tranquil. That in this moment there is life and food Of present pleasure, but with pleasing thoughts While here I stand, not only with the sense He realizes that while he stands looking at the beauty of Tintern Abbey he is receiving two types of pleasure: first, the “present pleasure” of simply enjoying the beauty at the moment and second, the pleasure of storing up mental “life and food for future years” when he returns to the city and calls up the scene in his memory. Stanza 4 (lines 58–111): The speaker reiterates the same concept in lines 64–67. On that best portion of a good man’s life, Through a long absence, have not been to meīut oft, in lonely rooms, and ‘mid the dinįelt in the blood, and felt along the heart This idea that nature, even the memory of nature, can cause us to feel tranquil is a central concept of Romanticism. When he remembers the beauty of nature, he feels again the calmness, the “tranquil restoration,” of being in nature. The speaker realizes that although he hasn’t seen Tintern Abbey for five years, he has remembered the beautiful scene even when he’s back in the busy, noisy city enduring the stress of daily life. Stanza 2 (lines 22–49): This stanza begins the meditation-a philosophical strain of thought inspired by the natural scene. Or of some Hermit’s cave, where by his fire Of vagrant dwellers in the houseless woods, With some uncertain notice, as might seem Sent up, in silence, from among the trees! Green to the very door and wreaths of smoke Of sportive wood run wild: these pastoral farms, These hedge-rows, hardly hedge-rows, little lines Which at this season, with their unripe fruits,Īre clad in one green hue, and lose themselves These plots of cottage-ground, these orchard-tufts, Thoughts of more deep seclusion and connect These waters, rolling from their mountain-springsĭo I behold these steep and lofty cliffs, This stanza is the observation of nature.įive years have past five summers, with the length Stanza 1 (lines 1–22): the speaker describes the beautiful scene. The following are excerpts from “Lines,” not the entire poem. “Lines” is an example of a pattern found in much Romantic poetry: an observation of nature followed by a meditation inspired by that observation. View a video mini-lecture on “Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey.” Wordsworth’s Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey Although their works display the characteristics of Romantic poetry, they pre-date Wordsworth and Coleridge, whose work is considered the beginning of British Romantic literature. “Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey”Ĭharlotte Smith, William Blake, and Robert Burns are sometimes referred to as pre-Romantic writers.
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