The first person pronoun, “I” has been repeated throughout the poem, which indicates Wordsworth’s personal involvement with the area surrounding him and how he was influenced by the nature. When reading this poem alone, readers cannot discern whether or not Wordsworth has portrayed the Abbey and the Wye Valley as it actually appeared in 1798 when he wrote this poem. It is reasonable to assume that he has depicted his version of the landscape, which perhaps a mixture of what he saw in the past and what he saw in 1798. He describes the valley as very peaceful, “Though absent long, These forms of beauty have not been to” (24), which suggests that the undisturbed surroundings of the Abbey always remained with him even though he never visited for five long years. The lines 29 and 30 further suggest that the beautiful forms of the Abbey and the valley’s environment remained with him the whole time.
In the poem, Wordsworth also depicts the differences how different nature is from civilization, how different the beautiful “sylvan Wye!” is from the “fever of the world” (55-58). Wordsworth’s statement in line 41 makes it seem that the civilized world was troubling him at the time, but he also claims that nature helped him, kept him at peace, and also gave him wisdom as “we see into the life of things” (50). Wordsworth reflects on the natural scenes based on his memories of Tintern Abbey and discovers a connection with nature that uplifts his understanding of the world. Lower classes like refugees were known to dwell in the “houseless woods” of Tintern Abbey, and Wordsworth refers to them as vagrants (21). The fact that he acknowledges the people at the Abbey is notable because most of the poem is a description of the area surrounding him rather than the Tintern Abbey itself, or the people and the ideals of revolution that were a part of it.
Initially it seems that the poem’s intention is to report on an instance of foreshadowing, but eventually Wordsworth realized the wisdom “into the life of things” (50) that nature and his use of memory had granted him. Wordsworth is not able to make this discovery solely based on good memories. Rather, it seems t hat remembering how committed and passionate he once was with nature the last time he visited the Wye Valley made him feel sad. In line 76, it seems that Wordsworth’s thoughts are stuck between the challenges of adulthood and the pure joy he felt when he was young. In the following line he expressed how losing that connection to nature has left him heartbroken. At the same time, he also admits that he was a “thoughtless youth” (91) in the past that prevented him from seeing into the “life of things,” and it is that thoughtfulness of adulthood that helped him make his discovery or reflection.
The lines, “For I have learned [] /To chasten and subdue,” are particularly significant because they indicate that Wordsworth did indeed make a discovery. Despite losing his youth, Wordsworth felt “the fever of the world” (55) and the heartaches of others. By familiarizing himself with pain and suffering, Wordsworth gained the power to understand nature and others. From the lines 90 through 99, Wordsworth uses comas between each line to create a dramatic pause, and the words he says have a deeply affect the message he is conveying. At the beginning of the poem, Wordsworth was longing for a lost perspective on nature, but it is nature that compelled him to be happy with his a new perspective of the discovery of “a spirit, that impels/ All living things” that Wordsworth discovered (101-102). As readers read this poem, they too experience this discovery as Wordsworth does.
In lines 115 through 116, it seems that there is another character accompanying Wordsworth, who is addressed as “dearest Friend,” who could represent the readers, but is most likely Dorothy, his younger sister. They both shared a powerful affection for each other and she had a significant place in Wordsworth’s life. It is in the final stanza that readers learn that it is indeed his sister, and that he is with her, not physically, rather mentally in spirit. Wordsworth apparently saw his former self in his sister. In the last stanza seems like a spiritual prayer in which Wordsworth is instructing his sister to have faith that nature will always provide her with a refuge through hard times and will give her wisdom into life’s meaning, as it did to him. As Wordsworth advises his sister in the last stanza, he uses the words “remember” and “forget” to urge her not to forget nature.
In the earlier stanzas of this poem, Wordsworth presented the readers with how he remembered nature in the past, and in the final stanza, he raises a question, “Nor wilt thou then forget,” probably asking the readers why they should remember nature. Wordsworth’s final address to his sister and his readers reflects a somewhat of a desire to be immortalized. He wants his sister and his readers to immortalize him by retaining this poem within themselves, just the way the “beauteous forms” (24) of the Wye valley never left and he utilized his memories of the natural landscape there to comfort himself. Indeed, this poem like many of his other works, have certainly immortalized him since we have not forgotten him even to this day, the same way that he was not able to forget nature.
Work Cited
Wordsworth, William. "Tintern Abbey." Poets.org. Academy of American Poets. Web. 9 Nov 2013. <http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/19411>.
