is tintern abbey a poem

Is Tintern Abbey a philosophical poem?

“Tintern Abbey” is a complex meditation on the value of nature as a source of healing and philosophical wisdom, yet Wordsworth repeatedly questions the veracity and durability of this belief. The poem vacillates between overt affirmations of nature’s restorative, edifying power, and muted voicings of uncertainty as to whether nature will ever “betray / The heart that loved her” (125-126).

What is the overall theme of the poem Tintern Abbey?

What is the main theme of Tintern Abbey? The central theme of the poem is typically Wordsworthian: the interactive relationship between the perceiving awareness, “the mind of man,” and nature. In the poet's view, perception is as much active and creative as passive and receptive. Click to see full answer. Also, what is the theme of Tintern ...

What 'loss' does the Poet refer to in Tintern Abbey?

The poem is about subjectivity and time—about what time does to subjectivity. The passage of time is felt through the relationship between memory and loss, through the memory of what has been lost. At the least, what has been lost is one’s own earlier self. “Tintern Abbey” is directly influenced by Coleridge’s “Frost at Midnight ...

What is the main idea of "Tintern Abbey" by Wordsworth?

Additionally, what is the main idea of Tintern Abbey? " Tintern Abbey " is the young Wordsworth's first great statement of his principle (great) theme : that the memory of pure communion with nature in childhood works upon the mind even in adulthood, when access to that pure communion has been lost, and that the maturity of mind present in adulthood offers compensation for

What is the poem "Tintern Abbey" about?from literariness.org

The poem is about subjectivity and time—about what time does to subjectivity. The passage of time is felt through the relationship between memory and loss, through the memory of what has been lost. At the least, what has been lost is one’s own earlier self. “Tintern Abbey” is directly influenced by Coleridge’s “Frost at Midnight” ...

What is the poem "Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey, on Revisiting?from sparknotes.com

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 does Dorothy represent in the poem?from literariness.org

Woodsworth’s sister Dorothy, whom he addresses in the poem’s final movement, represents the gain off setting future loss; she also allows him to carry forward even what has been lost into the present. For now Dorothy, like Hartley Coleridge, is the other consciousness, not lost but there with him, and the future he foretells for her (like the future Samuel Taylor Coleridge foretells for Hartley) is one in which she, too, will become more thoughtful, even as Woodsworth is now. But now both consciousnesses are there, and Dorothy represents both the present’s past and the past’s future, his own earlier raptures and his sense of what she will discover about herself and about him, even as he discovers the same about her, when she thinks back on this time as he has thought on his previous experience of the Wye. The present moment stands, therefore, both for the future and the past, and it links them each to each.

How many lines are there in the third stanza of "Lines Composed a Few Miles Above?from poemanalysis.com

The third stanza of “ Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey ” is shorter, consisting of only nine lines. In this short stanza the speaker addresses the possibility that the interior world in which he has been living could be “but a vain belief.” He could have been steadfast in his belief but, ignorant of the fact that he was wrong.

Why does the speaker say he will never suffer his genial spirits to decay?from poemanalysis.com

The speaker begins this section by stating that he will never “Suffer [his] genial spirits to decay” due to the fact that he now understands Nature. The beliefs he harbors within him are permanent. They are there with him at this present moment as he stands “upon the banks” of a river looking out on this place he loves.

What is the theme of Tennyson's poem?from sjsu.edu

[Tennyson’s poem, conveniently published at mid-century, represent a change from the Romantic trust in nature to the Victorian grittier view (expressed in the European literary movements of Realism, at about the time of the poem, and Naturalism, near the turn of the century) of a violent and dangerous external world. The death of a friend, Arthur H. Hallam, occasioned Tennyson’s meditation. The Romantics believed the beauty of nature reflected its creator’s goodness. Observing not beauty but violence in the natural world challenged Tennyson and the Victorians to reflect on the God that could design such suffering, but by the end of the poem Tennyson manages to reconcile his grief with an affirmative view of the universe.]

When did Wordsworth write the poem "This is the Wye"?from literariness.org

Wordsworth composed the poem on July 13, 1798, but he did not write it down for another few days, until he and his sister reached Bristol, so the thought that it records is the thought that he actually had on his return to the Wye. He had last been there in August 1793; now he has returned and can measure how much he has changed by how little the natural landscape has. He returns to hear “again / These waters,” to see “t hese steep and lofty cliffs,” to repose under “ this dark sycamore.” More important, perhaps, is that he is returning at “ this season,” which is to say that the place is the same and so is the time. The natural world is seasonal and essentially timeless, but human life is time-bound, not seasonal and cyclical but headed toward age and death.

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.

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 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 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 theme of the poem Tintern Abbey?

Nature and its influence on the poet in various stage forms the main theme of the poem. The poem deal with the influence of Nature on the boy, the growing youth, and the man. The poet has expressed his tender feeling towards nature. William Wordsworth (1770-1850) He has specially recollected his poetic idea of Tintern Abbey where he had gone first ...

What is the theme of the poem "A Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey"?

It may he called a condensed spiritual autobiography of the poet. It deals with the subjective experiences of the poet, and traces the growth of his mind through different periods of his life. Nature and its influence on the poet in various stage forms the main theme of the poem. The poem deal with the influence of Nature on the boy, the growing youth, and the man. The poet has expressed his tender feeling towards nature.

What is the blank verse in Wordsworth's poem?

The blank verse that is used in it is low-toned, familiar, and moves with sureness, sereneness and inevitable ease. It has the quiet pulse, suggestive of 'central peace', which is felt in all his great poetry. This is the beauty of Wordsworth’s language.

What is the second section of the poem?

The second section begins with the meditation . The poet now realizes that these ‘beauteous’ forms have always been with him, deep-seated in his mind, wherever he went. This vision has been “Felt in the blood, and felt alone the heart” that is. It has affected his whole being.

What does nature give the poet?

Though the poet has become serious and perplexed in the fourth section the nature gives him courage and spirit enough to stand there with a sense of delight and pleasure. This is so typical of Wordsworth that it seems he can’t write poetry without recounting his personal experiences, especially those of his childhood. Here he also begins from the earliest of his days! It was first the coarse pleasures in his ‘boyish days’, which have all gone by now. “That time is past and all its aching joys are now no more, and all its dizzy raptures”. But the poet does not mourn for them; he doesn’t even grumble about their loss. Clearly, he has gained something in return: “other gifts have followed; for such loss… for I have learnt to look on nature, not as in the hour of thoughtless youth; but hearing oftentimes the still, sad music of humanity”. This is a philosophic statement about maturing, about the development of personality, and of the poetic or philosophic mind as well. So now the poet is able to feel a joy of elevated thought, a sense sublime, and far more deeply interfused. He feels a sense of sublime and the working of a supreme power in the light of the setting sun, in round oceans and in the blue sky. He is of opinion that a motion and a spirit impel all thinking things. Therefore Wordsworth claims that he is a lover of the meadows and of all which we see from this green earth. Nature is a nurse, a guide and the guardian of his heart and soul. The poet comes to one important conclusion: for all the formative influences, he is now consciously in love with the nature. He has become a thoughtful lover of the meadows, the woods and the mountains. Though his ears and eyes seem to create the other half of all these sensations, the nature is the actual source of these sublime thoughts.

What does Wordsworth say about Tintern Abbey?

Wordsworth announces at the very beginning of “Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey” that his subject is memory, that he is returning to walk in a place he has been before, and that his experience of the place is all bound together with his memories of being there in the past.

What is the poem "A Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey" about?

“Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey,” like many of Wordsworth’s early poems, takes the form of a monologue in the first-person voice of the poet, written in blank verse—unrhymed iambic pentameter. Because the rhythm of many of the lines has subtle variations on the fundamental pattern of five iambic feet (da DUM / da DUM / da DUM / da DUM / da DUM) and because there are no strict end-rhymes, the poem must have seemed like prose to its first readers, who were accustomed to the strict metrical and rhyming forms and the elevated poetic diction of 18th-century neo-classical poets like Alexander Pope and Thomas Gray.

What is the line above Tintern Abbey?

First published in William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s groundbreaking joint collection, "Lyrical Ballads" (1798), “ Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey ” is among the most famous and influential of Wordsworth’s odes. It embodies the crucial concepts Wordsworth set out in his preface ...

What is the origin of good poetry?

Good poetry as “the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquillity: the emotion is contemplated till, by a species of reaction, the tranquillity gradually disappears, and an emotion, kindred to that which was before the subject of contemplation, is gradually produced and does itself actually exist in the mind.”

What is the language of poetry used to delineate?

The language of poetry used to delineate “the primary laws of our nature ... the essential passions of the heart ... our elementary feelings ... in a state of simplicity.”.

Who is Wordsworth's sister?

In the last section of the poem, Wordsworth addresses his companion, his beloved sister Dorothy, who has presumably been walking with him but has not yet been mentioned. He sees his former self in her enjoyment of the scene: in thy voice I catch. The language of my former heart, and read.

What is the meaning of "Tintern Abbey"?from sparknotes.com

“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.

What is the subject of Tintern Abbey?from sparknotes.com

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.

When did Tintern Abbey start building a church?from visitwales.com

But then, thanks to the patronage of wealthy Marcher lords, the white-robed monks began to think bigger. Tintern Abbey. In 1269 they began to build a new abbey church and didn’t stop until they’d created one of the masterpieces of British Gothic architecture.

How long has Tintern Abbey been standing?from cadw.gov.wales

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.

What is the final poem in Lyrical Ballads?from litcharts.com

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 ...

Is Tintern Abbey Romanticism?

William Wordsworth’s “Tintern Abbey” is an ideal example of romantic poetry. As the web page “Wordsworth Tintern Abbey” notes, this recollection was added to the end of his book Lyrical Ballads, as a spontaneous poem that formed upon revisiting Wye Valley with his sister (Wordsworth Tintern Abbey).

What are the defining characteristics of the romantic period?

Characteristics of Romanticism. Romantic literature is marked by six primary characteristics: celebration of nature, focus on the individual and spirituality, celebration of isolation and melancholy, interest in the common man, idealization of women, and personification and pathetic fallacy.

What are the characteristics of Romantic poetry?

What are the Main Features of the Romantic Poetry? Ans: (a) Reaction against the Neo Classicism (b) Emotions (c) Melancholic Tone (d) Imagination (e) Supernaturalism (f) Nature are the main features of the Romantic poetry.

Is Wordsworth a Romantic?

William Wordsworth (7 April 1770 – 23 April 1850) was an English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication Lyrical Ballads (1798).

What is the main idea of the poem Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey?

Summary. “Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey” by William Wordsworth is told from the perspective of the writer and tells of the power of Nature to guide one’s life and morality.

What are the themes of Romantic poetry?

A major theme in Romantic poetry is the relationship between humans and their emotions and the natural world. The Romantic poets felt that humans’ internal lives and the exterior, natural world had a lot in common: they could both be mysterious, open and vast, wild and free, and sometimes a little bit terrifying.

What do Romantic poets believe in?

Romantic poets cultivated individualism, reverence for the natural world, idealism, physical and emotional passion, and an interest in the mystic and supernatural.

What is the poem "Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey" about?

‘Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey’ by William Wordsworth is a well-loved poem that describes a speaker’s return to a specific spot along the banks of the River Wye and his understanding of nature.

What does Wordsworth want to do in the poem "The Moon"?

At this point the poem is starting to conclude. Wordsworth wants to make sure that his sister knows that if this is the life that she desires, she should “let the moon” shine on her during her walks. She should feel the “mountain-winds” on her skin and not resist them.

How many lines are there in the third stanza of "Lines Composed a Few Miles Above?

The third stanza of “ Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey ” is shorter, consisting of only nine lines. In this short stanza the speaker addresses the possibility that the interior world in which he has been living could be “but a vain belief.” He could have been steadfast in his belief but, ignorant of the fact that he was wrong.

Why does the speaker say he will never suffer his genial spirits to decay?

The speaker begins this section by stating that he will never “Suffer [his] genial spirits to decay” due to the fact that he now understands Nature. The beliefs he harbors within him are permanent. They are there with him at this present moment as he stands “upon the banks” of a river looking out on this place he loves.

Is Wordsworth's poem a monologue?

William Wordsworth’s poem has qualities of both a dramatic monologue and a lyrical ballad. The speaker is not alone as he describes the world around him, but his is the only voice that the reader will hear. ‘ Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey ‘ is not written with a clear rhyme scheme, but rather, the poet has focused on meter.

Overview

Background

• “Tintern Abbey” is composed in blank verse, which is aname used to describe unrhymed lines in iambic pentameter. Its styleis therefore very fluid and natural; it reads as easily as if itwere a prose piece. But of course the poetic structure is tightlyconstructed; Wordsworth’s slight variations on the stresses of iambicrhythms is remarkable. Lines s...

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Outline of themes

Literary and aesthetic context

Bibliography

External links