Tintern Abbey by William Wordsworth Essay Example for Free

Tintern Abbey by William Wordsworth Essay How TINTERN ABBEY evolves from beginning to end is in a truly reflective state upon the five years that had passed since he had last visited the ruins of the abbey. The ruin of the abbey, perhaps can be compared to the aging of man and the inevitably of aging, however, the abbey still stands as does natutre and its eternal splendor. The poem starts immediately with an adjective, rolling referring to the waters coming down from the mountain springs which do not disturb the murmur of the river: These waters, rolling from their mountain-springs/With a sweet murmur. (3-4). The gentle, quietness of the river Wye which Wordworth adored and the visual picture of the rolling of the water from the mountain springs give the reader a feeling of serenity. The tone of the poem is calm and mediative and Wordsworth describes the landscape and compares it to the quiet of the sky: The landscape with the quiet of the sky.(8). The plots of land surrounding his dear land are lovingly described with the color, green. He gives the woods an almost human personality with the use of the verb, runin line l7; Of sportive wood run wild; these paastoral farms (l7). The life of the woods surrounding the Abbey are almost given human like qualities in order to show how man is and must be part of nature. In the third stanza of the poem his tone changes and he almost becomes angry at the fact that he had left the abbey and returned to a life which had left him unfullfilled; How often has my spirit turned to thee!(58). In lines 89-92, 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,(89-92) his tone becomes morose in reflecting upon the lack of human appreciation of nature. He uses obvious, but knowing adjectives in round ocean and living air: And the round ocean, and the living air (99) and attributes that are obvious to the conditions of the ocean and air, but to reflect upon the obvious and constancy of nature. The irony of the strengthening of his relationship with his sister, Dorothy takes place with his return to the abbey with Dorothy and he feels a freedom which he had lacked in the outside world. He feels protected in the woods, a plce of refuge which is reinforced by the dearness and closeness of his sister presence. The freedom to be himself and enjoy the beauty and tranquility that nature can provide, in a treasured place which was sacred to him, set away from the city gosssip and fast life, the ironic greetings of people who really dont care; Nor greetings where not kindness is, not all (13l). are all approaches and techniques that Wordsworth uses in order to et his reader into his head and allow the presence and grandeur . The autobiographical fact that Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy returned to live in the Lake District at the end of l799 reinformces how important the locale meant to he and his sister. Wordsworths wish for his sister in this poem is that she be happy and joyous in her surroundings and protect her from the gossip and cruelty of the outside world and that the serenity and calmness of nature keep her at peace; Therefore let the moon/ Shine on thee in thy solitary walk (l35-6). In stanza 4 Wordsworth becomes like a preacher in tone and when he says, That in this moment there is life and food/For future years(65-6) he seems to be teaching the reader a lesson that youth is spent in concrete form. HE alluded to the carnal nature of his youth; (The coarser pleasures of my boyish days/And their glad animalmovements all gone by,) (74-5) and welcomes his appreciation of nature and the caklmness it brings; other gifts/Have followed, for such loss, I would believe(87-8). Youth is eternal in the heart that appreciates the majesty and sublimness of nature is just what Wordsworth is trying to relate in Stanza 4 and his tone changes from descriptive to joyous and appreciative and relates his soul to nature. The sensualness of his return to the Abbey is reflected in lines 26-32; But oft, in lonely rooms, and mid the din/Of towns and cities, I have owed to them,/In hours of weariness, sensations sweet,/(26-32)renews the newness and hope of his youth and reaffirms his unit y with nature. The central description of the poem comes from muted visions of his prior visit to the Abbwy and his reminsceses in the concrete, visceral encompassing freedom of the woods. His reflection upon mans eternity and mortal life are addressed when he says; Until, the breath of this corporeal frame,/And even the motion of human blood/ALmost suspended, we are laid asleep/In body, and become a living soul: (44-47) the word, motion gives notice to the motion and vitality of nature which is eternal and contrasts and contradicts the long-lived life on man on earth. He is trying to reflect, himself on his place in the world in relation to nature, and also to allow the reader to reflect on his position and relation with the world of nature. Burial, return to the earth, part of nature again, the eternal circle of life, to be rejoiced.