poetry

English IV – Unit 9: Romantic and Victorian Poetry

Project: 19th-Century Views Oral Report

William Wordsworth’s poem, “Composed A Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey, On Revisiting The Banks Of The Wye During A Tour. July 13, 1798” (also known as simply, “Tintern Abbey”), was included in the book Lyrical Ballads, with a Few Other Poems. This was a joint effort between himself and author Samuel Taylor Coleridge. “Tintern Abbey” remains one of Wadsworth’s most famous poems, and at its printing, the book was completely sold out in two years. The name of the poem reflects the inspiration Wadsworth felt upon visiting the ruins of an old church called Tintern Abbey, with his sister Dorothy.

During his young adulthood, Wadsworth took numerous walking tours throughout the mountains of Europe, and came to feel that nature had special soothing and healing powers. He would experience a renewal of his spirit when he would connect with nature. Wordsworth uses imagery that creates a feeling a beauty and serenity. For example,

“…These plots of cottage-ground, these orchard-tufts,

Which at this season, with their unripe fruits,

Are clad in one green hue, and lose themselves

'Mid groves and copses. Once again I see

These hedge-rows, hardly hedge-rows, little lines

Of sportive wood run wild: these pastoral farms,

Green to the very door…” (11-17)

Wordsworth expresses his reverence for the natural world, and communicates the importance of nature to him personally. In one eloquent passage, he repeatedly describes the countless ways nature has helped him during difficult times,

“…These beauteous forms….I have owed to them

In hours of weariness, sensations sweet,

Felt in the bl...

... middle of paper ...

...n’ were being discussed, and there was confusion in the contrast between God and nature. In stanza 56, Tennyson maintains that nature is cold-hearted,

“"So careful of the type?" but no.

From scarped cliff and quarried stone

She cries, "A thousand types are gone:

I care for nothing, all shall go.”

Both Wordsworth and Tennyson consider the universal themes of God, nature and spirituality in their poetry. Wordsworth clearly has a deep connection and affection for nature, while Tennyson is struggling with his faith and what he perceives as ‘nature’s cruelty’.

Works Cited

"In Memoriam A.H.H.." by Lord Alfred Tennyson. N.p., n.d. Web. . .

Wordsworth, William. The Complete Poetical Works. London: Macmillan and Co., 1888; Bartleby.com, 1999. www.bartleby.com/145/. [Date of Printout].