Tintern Abbey By Wordsworth
Introduction
The poem is considered to be Wordsworth’s noblest utterance. It was
written soon before the departure of Wordsworth and his sister for Germany.
Summary of the Poem
The poet returns to gaze upon the river Wye after an absence of five years. He has often thought of that quiet and beautiful scene during this long absence.
To the unconscious influence of those beauteous forms, he owes the highest of his poetic moods—that mood in which the soul rises above the world of sense, and views the world of being, and the mysterious harmony of the universe. It’s is the poet’s own belief; but even if this were a vain belief, he knows at least that the memory of this peaceful scene has often cheered him in hours of solitude and hopelessness.
And now he once more looks upon the real scene of his past recollections. He contrasts his present feelings with the past ones. He has a painful belief that the past with its intense and childish raptures can no more return to him. But he does not, therefore, faint or murmur, because he knows that other gifts have followed. If the mere external forms of nature cannot fill him with the rapture of his boyish days, he has reached a higher and more serene region; he has learnt to understand the inner meaning of nature; he has learnt to recognize a living principle underlying the world of sense, and giving to it all beauty and harmony.
And even if it were not so, the sympathy of his dear sister would keep his genial spirits from drooping or decaying. In her he views his former self; in her voice, he catches the language of his former heart, and in the glances of her wild eyes he reads his former pleasures. He prays that she should be what he was once—viz., a fervent worshipper of nature, and a devout believer in the maxim
“all that we behold is full of blessing.” And so whatever sorrows might be her lot in aftertimes, she would remember with joy the poet and his exhortations and derive consolation from the remembrances.
SOME IMPORTANT EXPLANATIONS
