Full Answer
What is the structure of the poem Tintern Abbey?
“Tintern Abbey” is composed in blank verse, which is a name used to describe unrhymed lines in iambic pentameter. Its style is therefore very fluid and natural; it reads as easily as if it were a prose piece.
How many parts are there in Tintern Abbey?
The poem is in five sections. The first section establishes the setting for the meditation. But it emphasizes the passage of time: five years have passed, five summers, five long winters… But when the poet is back to this place of natural beauty and serenity, it is still essentially the same.
What is the setting of lines composed a few miles above Tintern Abbey?
The poem takes place on the banks of the Wye River, which is in southeast Wales north of the big city of Cardiff (see the "Best of the Web" section for a link to a map). We also know exactly when the poem takes place: July 13, 1798.
What is unique about the stanza structures in lines composed a few miles above Tintern Abbey?
'Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey' is not written with a clear rhyme scheme, but rather, the poet has focused on the meter. Throughout the poem can be found the pattern of iambic pentameter. This type of verse is made up of five sets of beats per line.
What are the poetic devices in the Tintern Abbey?
The force of Wordsworth's “Tintern Abbey” is undeniably created through the poetic devices of imagery, line and metaphor, which help to convey abstract sensations to readers.
What is the main theme of the poem Tintern Abbey?
The central passage of the poem expresses a creed of faith in an immanent natural power, “[w]hose dwelling is the light of setting suns, / And the round ocean, and the living air, / And the blue sky, and in the mind of man: / A motion and a spirit, that impels / All thinking things, all objects of all thought, / And ...
What is the tone of the poem Tintern Abbey?
The tone might be conversational in Wordsworth's "Tintern Abbey," but the vocabulary can get dicey in places, and the sentence structure sometimes ties itself in knots as the speaker tries to work through difficult philosophical ideas.
What is full title of Tintern Abbey?
Summary @ The full title of this poem is “Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey, on Revisiting the Banks of the Wye during a Tour.
What is the meaning of Tintern?
The name Tintern may derive from the Welsh din + d/teyrn, meaning "rocks of the king".
Why is Tintern Abbey in blank verse?
Wordsworth probably chose to use blank verse because he wanted "Tintern Abbey" to sound natural and conversational. In fact, if you listen to a recording of "Tintern Abbey" being read out loud, you might not notice the meter at all (check out our "Best of the Web" section for links to recordings).
Is Tintern Abbey a real place?
Tintern Abbey is a national icon — still standing in roofless splendour on the banks of the River Wye nearly 500 years since its tragic fall from grace. It was founded in 1131 by Cistercian monks, who were happy to make do with timber buildings at first.
Is Tintern Abbey a sonnet?
Edward Jerningham, "Tintern Abbey" About 1800. Rev. Luke Booker, "Original sonnet composed on leaving Tintern Abbey and proceeding with a party of friends down the River Wye to Chepstow"
What are the different elements of Nature described in the poem Tintern Abbey?
In “Tintern Abbey,” nature exemplifies God's attributes of omnipresence, omniscience, and omnipotence. Nature appears to be the greatest sage and omniscient rather than God being the wisest.
What is the name of the river in Tintern Abbey?
the River WyeTintern Abbey, ecclesiastical ruin in Monmouthshire, Wales, on the west bank of the River Wye.
What are the romantic elements in Tintern Abbey poem?
In “Tintern Abbey,” there are three romantic elements, including nature, memory, and transformation. Initially, Wordsworth uses nature as a romantic element in his poem. Wordsworth states many time in his poem about the nature that he sees at the abbey he is visiting again. “Once again do I behold these...
What is Tintern Abbey in the poem Tintern Abbey?
Tintern Abbey is a poem of reminiscence, reflection, and loving remembrance. It shows how Wordsworth began to see Nature through a different prism as he matured from his carefree early twenties for the next twenty years. In his poetic journey, he had by his side his sister Dorothy, whom he loved very dearly.
What is the final poem in Lyrical Ballads?
His return five years later occasioned this poem, which Wordsworth saw as articulating his beliefs about nature, creativity, and the human soul. “Tintern Abbey” was included as the final poem in Lyrical Ballads, a 1798 collection of poems by Wordsworth and his friend and fellow poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Read the full text of “Lines Composed ...
Who wrote the line "Ask a question"?
Ask a question. “Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey, On Revisiting the Banks of the Wye during a Tour. July 13, 1798”— commonly known as “Tintern Abbey”— is a poem written by the British Romantic poet William Wordsworth. Wordsworth had first visited the Wye Valley when he was 23 years old.
How many stanzas are there in Tintern Abbey?
Apostrophe and imagery dominate his poetry, both of which can be found in the shortest stanza, stanza 3, in "Tintern Abbey.". Technically, this poem by William Wordsworth only has five stanzas. However, this makes it sound as if it is a much shorter poem than is actually the case.
What is the theme of the poem "Tintern Abbey"?
This poem by Wordsworth, who helped define the Romantic movement in poetry, reflects Wordsworth's tendency to write long poems, including "Tintern Abbey" and "Intimations on Immortality.". In addition to the physical structure resembling Wordsworth's other works, "Tintern Abbey" also contains similar themes and relies on ...
Is Wordsworth's poem a regular poem?
This poem is not written in a regular form with evenly structured stanzas. On the contrary, some of the stanzas that comprise the poem are far longer than others. In this poem, Wordsworth seems to utilize stanzas in much the same way that writers of prose might use paragraph breaks, with each new stanza introducing a new idea.
What is the poem "A Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey" about?
The title, Lines Written (or Composed) a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey, on Revisiting the Banks of the Wye during a Tour, July 13, 1798, is often abbreviated simply to Tintern Abbey, although that building does not appear within the poem. It was written by Wordsworth after a walking tour with his sister in this section of the Welsh Borders. The description of his encounters with the countryside on the banks of the River Wye grows into an outline of his general philosophy. There has been considerable debate about why evidence of the human presence in the landscape has been downplayed and in what way the poem fits within the 18th-century loco-descriptive genre .
Who wrote the sonnet in Tintern Abbey?
Edmund Gardner, "Sonnet written in Tintern Abbey". 1796. Edward Jerningham, "Tintern Abbey". About 1800. Rev. Luke Booker, "Original sonnet composed on leaving Tintern Abbey and proceeding with a party of friends down the River Wye to Chepstow".
What did Sneyd Davies see in Tintern Abbey?
As the boat carrying Sneyd Davies neared Tintern Abbey, he noted the presence of "naked quarries" before passing to the ruins, bathed in evening light and blending into the natural surroundings to give a sense of "pleasurable sadness".
What is the line in the poem "My dearest friend"?
Lines 111–159. The third movement of the poem is addressed to his sister Dorothy, "my dearest Friend,/ My dear, dear Friend," as a sharer in this vision and in the conviction that "all which we behold is full of blessings". It is this that will continue to create a lasting bond between them.
What is the tripartite division in the poem?
The poem's tripartite division encompasses a contextual scene-setting, a developing theorisation of the significance of his experience of the landscape, and a final confirmatory address to the implied listener.
Who is the silent listener in the poem?
The silent listener in this case is Wordsworth's sister Dorothy, who is addressed in the poem's final section. Transcending the nature poetry written before that date, it employs a much more intellectual and philosophical engagement with the subject that verges on pantheism.
What does Wordsworth claim to see into the life of things?
Having internalised the landscape, Wordsworth claimed now "to see into the life of things" (line 50) and, so enabled, to hear "oftentimes/ The still sad music of humanity" (92-3), but recent critics have used close readings of the poem to question such assertions. For example, Marjorie Levinson views him "as managing to see into the life of things only 'by narrowing and skewing his field of vision' and by excluding 'certain conflictual sights and meanings ' ". Part of her contention was that he had suppressed mention of the heavy industrial activity in the area, although it has since been argued that the "wreaths of smoke", playfully interpreted by Wordsworth as possible evidence "of some Hermit’s cave" upslope, in fact acknowledges the presence of the local ironworks, or of charcoal burning, or of a paper works.
What is the significance of lines written a few miles above Tintern Abbey?
‘Lines Written a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey’ represented a turning-point in Wordsworth’s career, and in the development of English Romanticism. The features we now most readily associate with Romantic poetry – the lyric focus on the personal thoughts and feelings of the poet, and the way the individual links with his or her natural surroundings – were brought to new heights in this poem. Here it’s worth remembering the significance of the title of the collection to which ‘Lines Written a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey’ was a last-minute addition: ‘ballads’ are poems which tell a story and have some narrative interest, a quality which ‘Lines Written a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey’ notably lacks.
What is the poem "Tintern Abbey"?
When the poem first appeared in Lyrical Ballads (1798) as a last-minute addition, it bore the title ‘Lines Written (or Composed) a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey, on Revisiting the Banks of the Wye during a Tour, July 13, 1798’. William Wordsworth (1770-1850) wrote the poem after visiting the ruins of the medieval abbey on the England-Wales border, and was so pleased with it he sent it to his publishers, asking it to be included, at the eleventh hour, in the collection of poems he and his friend Samuel Taylor Coleridge had written.
What river does Wordsworth use in his poem?
In summary, the poem sees Wordsworth revisiting the ‘banks of the Wye’, the river that flows through England and Wales, five years after he was last there. In fairly regular blank verse, Wordsworth admires the ‘murmur’ of the water, the greenery of the scene, and the seclusion that such surroundings provide.
Why did Wordsworth go to nature?
Wordsworth then shifts his focus to his past self, reflecting that when he first went among nature like this, he was a carefree boy who went eagerly to nature, rather than going to it because was fleeing from something (i.e. the troubles of the adult world).
When was the prelude written?
Wordsworth is often looking back to his childhood, and nowhere more so than in his long autobiographical poem The Prelude (1805; revised 1850). Lyrical Ballads heralded the arrival of English Romanticism in poetry, and Wordsworth added a famous preface to the collection when it was reprinted in 1800.
What are some of the most famous poems from Lyrical Ballads?
Many of the other most famous poems from Lyrical Ballads – Wordsworth’s own ‘We Are Seven’, ‘The Idiot Boy’, ‘Simon Lee’, and ‘Anecdote for Fathers’ , not to mention Coleridge’s long narrative poem ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’ – are narratives, not meditative lyrics. ‘Lines Written a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey’ was the most notable longer poem in the collection which took as its main focus not story but thought, feeling, memory, and introspection.
When did Wordsworth write the poem "I reached Bristol"?
Wordsworth ‘wrote’ the poem (i.e. worked on it and then wrote it down) on 11-13 July 1798, almost five years after his previous visit to the Wye (August 1793).
What is the poem "Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey, on Revisiting?
The full title of this poem is “Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey, on Revisiting the Banks of the Wye during a Tour. July 13, 1798 .” It opens with the speaker’s declaration that five years have passed since he last visited this location, encountered its tranquil, rustic scenery, and heard the murmuring waters of the river. He recites the objects he sees again, and describes their effect upon him: the “steep and lofty cliffs” impress upon him “thoughts of more deep seclusion”; he leans against the dark sycamore tree and looks at the cottage-grounds and the orchard trees, whose fruit is still unripe. He sees the “wreaths of smoke” rising up from cottage chimneys between the trees, and imagines that they might rise from “vagrant dwellers in the houseless woods,” or from the cave of a hermit in the deep forest.
What is the subject of Tintern Abbey?
The subject of “Tintern Abbey” is memory—specifically, childhood memories of communion with natural beauty. Both generally and specifically, this subject is hugely important in Wordsworth’s work, reappearing in poems as late as the “Intimations of Immortality” ode.
What is the meaning of "Tintern Abbey"?
“Tintern Abbey” is composed in blank verse, which is a name used to describe unrhymed lines in iambic pentameter. Its style is therefore very fluid and natural; it reads as easily as if it were a prose piece. But of course the poetic structure is tightly constructed; Wordsworth’s slight variations on the stresses of iambic rhythms is remarkable. Lines such as “Here, under this dark sycamore, and view” do not quite conform to the stress-patterns of the meter, but fit into it loosely, helping Wordsworth approximate the sounds of natural speech without grossly breaking his meter. Occasionally, divided lines are used to indicate a kind of paragraph break, when the poet changes subjects or shifts the focus of his discourse.
Overview
Background
The poem has its roots in Wordsworth's personal history. He had previously visited the area as a troubled twenty-three-year-old in August 1793. Since then he had matured and his seminal poetical relationship with Samuel Taylor Coleridge had begun. Wordsworth claimed to have composed the poem entirely in his head, beginning it upon leaving Tintern and not jotting down so much as a line until he reached Bristol, by which time it had just reached mental completion. Alth…
Outline of themes
The poem's tripartite division encompasses a contextual scene-setting, a developing theorisation of the significance of his experience of the landscape, and a final confirmatory address to the implied listener.
Lines 1–49
Revisiting the natural beauty of the Wye after five years fills the poet with a sense of "tranquil res…
Literary and aesthetic context
Having internalised the landscape, Wordsworth claimed now "to see into the life of things" (line 50) and, so enabled, to hear "oftentimes/ The still sad music of humanity" (92-3), but recent critics have used close readings of the poem to question such assertions. For example, Marjorie Levinson views him "as managing to see into the life of things only 'by narrowing and skewing his field …
Bibliography
• Durrant, Geoffrey. William Wordsworth (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1969)
External links
• Wordsworth biography and works
• Online Text of Poem