profile of person's head with eyes closed and headspace is filled with trees, mountains, and a river

Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey

by William Wordsworth

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Discussion Topic

Speaker's Perspective and Initial View of Tintern Abbey

Summary:

The speaker in "Tintern Abbey" reflects on his changed perspective over five years, viewing the abbey from a distance that mirrors his emotional detachment from the past. Initially, he appreciated nature for its superficial beauty, but now, with maturity, he perceives a deeper philosophical connection with the universe. The poem, centered on memory, contrasts his past, driven by fear, with his present, filled with love for the landscape, which has provided him solace and joy.

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From what perspective does the speaker view Tintern Abbey?

In geographical terms, as the title of the poem suggests, the speaker views Tintern Abbey from several miles above. The spatial distance between the speaker and the abbey reflects his emotional distance from the past, on which he ruminates as he approaches these ancient ruins.

The last time the speaker passed through this part of the world, five years ago, he was a very different man. Then, his perspective on the environment was somewhat naive and picturesque; he derived "coarse pleasures" from his engagement with the natural world. Nature was delightfully pretty, but nothing more. But now that he's older, wiser, and more mature, he's come to develop a more detached, philosophical perspective.

Now he sees himself as part of an organic whole in which he is linked with everyone and everything else in the universe, mind and nature fused together in a sublime unity. This elevated insight, this recognition of the deeper life beneath the surface of things, is the product of many years of disinterested reflection. Intellectually, the speaker had to separate himself from the world of his past to derive such insights, just as he now physically separates himself from the present, a few miles above Tintern Abbey.

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When did the speaker first view the scene in 'Tintern Abbey'?

This is a poem about memory. In it, the speaker states that it has been five years since he first visited the area around Tintern Abbey. He states that he has changed in those five years. Back then, he was, as he describes it,

more like a man
Flying from something that he dreads, than one
Who sought the thing he loved.
He contrasts the young man he was five years ago, who would have been newly returned from the shock of witnessing the French Revolution, with the man he is now. Then, he was running away from terrible sights; now, he is revisiting a place he loves. He notes that memories of Tintern Abbey and its landscape have been a solace to him over the past five years, writing:

How oft, in spirit, have I turned to thee,
O sylvan Wye!

Sylvan means wooded, and the Wye is a river. Memories of the beauties of this wooded setting with a river winding through it have often sustained him and made him happy. He will go on in the poem to speculate that the scene he is viewing will continue to provide both him and his sister Dorothy with a stock of joyous memories.

Returning to the same unchanged spot in nature offers two benefits to Wordsworth: it is way to measure his personal changes against a place that is the same, and it is a way to store up happy memories.

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