William Wordsworth

“Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey” by William Wordsworth is a poem that not only portrays the beauty, emotion and complex yet simple life around us, it displays a sense of wonder. It takes on these traits by the words used to describe the setting. Wordsworth is revisiting a bank along a river during a tour in July of 1798. He speaks very eloquently of what he sees. He is in a familiar spot where he has often stopped in his travels to observe the beauty of the land and to, what it seems, take a mental vacation while he writes.

What goes on in the world? What am I looking at? What do I hear? These are just among the few questions Wordsworth answers for himself as he sits and observes a small town and forest before him. He sits under a sycamore and views the lush, green tree tops. He wonders what is amongst the trees, what happens beyond them where his eyes cannot see? He lets his mind take place for his eyes, and he imagines what there could be. In lines 22 through 25, he says “ These beauteous forms, through a long absence, have not been to me as is a landscape to a blind man’s eye…” reading those lines over and over, one can conclude that he is thankful for returning to this place, where he has been unable to see this beauty above in the hills for years, and it has only been a memory to him until now, until this time where he is sitting there, taking it all in, like a landscape that he will hold in his mind forever. Though there are times he cannot see it, it will be in his heart and the images will be there for him to come back to whenever he needs it.

He goes on to say up to line 48, that he owes something to the world. Maybe it be the graciousness for the beauty, or maybe the thankfulness of the creatures that walk the earth, maybe it be the pleasure of good deeds carried out amongst man. For all of these, he is in a serene blessed mood. “In which the affections gently lead us on, until the breath of this corporeal frame and even the motion of our human blood almost suspended, we are laid asleep in body, and become a living soul…” , he says we all will die, but he enlightens the mood by saying we become living souls. Souls amongst the earth, in harmony and with power for they have lived the life and are now free to see into the life of things, and true meanings.

He thinks of this belief to be vain, but finds so much joy in his thoughts for the afterlife. His spirit turns to the earth as he views it, and feels as though he wants this for eternity, so he has thoughts of his soul becoming one with the earth so he will always be able to capture the mystery and wonder that lies within it. Lines 58 through 70 he goes on to say that maybe it is a fear to leave the earth in body, but that you should find pleasure knowing that there will always be life and food for eternity. He says in lines 70 to 75 “ …wherever nature led: more like a man flying from something that he dreads, than one who sought the thing he loved.” He loves the land and the beauty, and is not afraid for his beliefs are so strong that he will always, even after death, be a part of the beauty.

He turns to nature once more beginning on line 88. “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…” He realizes that humanity is harsh and contemplates whether he can still be part of that and still be able to appreciate the beauty of it all when there may be things in this world that are far from what he perceives them to be. All in all, he finds peace and nurturing, and describes nature to be “the guardian of my heart, and soul of all my moral being.”

Lines