Tintern Abbey and the Place of Nature Essay - 1562 Words

Tintern Abbey and the Place of Nature Throughout Tintern Abbey, Wordsworth constructs nature as both a healing entity and a teacher or moral guardian. This paper considers Wordsworths treatment of nature in relation to both Ralph Pites discussion of the relationship between the ecology movement and Romantic poetry and Richard Gravils explication of the historical context of the Romantic eras system of nature in relation to Tintern Abbey. Nature as Healer? Wordsworth ascribes healing properties to nature in Tintern Abbey. This is a fairly obvious conclusion, drawn from his references to tranquil restoration (31) that his memory of the Wye offered him in lonely rooms, and mid the din / Of towns and†¦show more content†¦Arguably, this possibility is evident in the passage describing These plots of cottage-ground, these orchard-tufts, / Which, at this season, with their unripe fruits / along the woods and copses lose themselves (11-13). These lines could be interpreted as a harmonious inclusion of human agricultural life within its natural environment, but I find there is something portentous in the image of the plots of cottage ground being indiscernible from the wilderness as seen from Wordsworths vantage point. It suggests that nature has the power to swallow up human existence, and that survival-represented by the effort to grow food-is uncertain. The extent of natures power is alluded to in the sounding cataract and the steep and lofty cliffs that exist independent of man; they are unchanging, as Wordsworth notes that these things are the same after his absence of five years. Such constancy reminds us of our own fragility. A power structure between man and nature is present in the poem, and while nature may have the power to alleviate emotional suffering, nature also has the power to harm us not through malevolence, but through indifference. In considering this double-edged relationship with nature, Richard Gravil discusses Wordsworth in relation to Baron dHolbach and notes that: Whether dHolbachs nature and Wordsworths are compatible depends on which passages one selects. Sometimes nature is presented in distinctlyShow MoreRelatedDiction In Tintern Abbey1276 Words   |  6 PagesWilliam Wordsworth’s â€Å"Tintern Abbey† explores the relationship of the narrator (presumably Wordsworth) with the unchanging, pastoral landscape of Tintern Abbey, as well as that with his sister. Wordsworth uses diction to show that during his youthful days, he fervently enjoyed this natural scene with a childlike innocence, but now older, he struggles to see the same scene in the same light and instead, with effort, views the landscape in a more emotional, chastening, and sad manner. Although notRead More Analysis of Tintern Abbey by William Wordsworth Essay1052 Words   |  5 PagesAnalysis of Tintern Abbey by William Wordsworth William Wordsworth existed in a time when society and its functions were beginning to rapidly pick up. The poem that he Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey, on Revisiting the Banks of the Wye, gave him a chance to reflect upon his quick paced life by taking a moment to slow down and absorb the beauty of nature that allows one to see into the life of things; (line 49). Wordsworths Tintern Abbey; takes you on a series of emotional statesRead MoreAn Age Dominated By Logic And Reason1086 Words   |  5 Pagespainter by the name of Joseph Mallord William Turner. J.M.W Turner is remembered for works such as The Fall of an Avalanche in the Grisons, Snow Storm-Steam-Boat off a Harbour’s Mouth and Tintern Abbey, whose location was the subject of a poem by William Wordsworth. 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Details of shape, color and movement are revealed, yet it is not with the eyes that the scene is made visible to readers, it is with the mind that the trees, rocks and hedge-rows emerge. This plays intoRead MoreContrast and Comparison of Wordsworths Tintern Abbey and Colderidges Kubla Khan1591 Words   |  7 PagesContrast and Comparison of Wordsworths Tintern Abbey and Colderidges Kubla Khan When comparing William Wordsworths Tintern Abbey, and Samuel Colderidges Kubla Khan, one notices a distinct difference in the use of imagination within the two poems. Even though the two poets were contemporaries and friends, Wordsworth and Colderidge each have an original and different way in which they introduce images and ideas into their poetry. These differences give the reader quite a unique experience whenRead MoreThe Age Of Manufacturing That Preceded The Romantic Movement1387 Words   |  6 Pagesmermaids and unicorns or God and nature, is considered meaningless since they cannot be confirmed by factual report. This all started changing when the future leaders of the enlightenment decided that we should resort to more emotional thinking. Jean-Jacques Rousseau, one of the leaders of the enlightenment observed that science was transforming Europe into unemotional machines. He says, Man was born free, but everywhere he is in chains...Let us return to nature.† (Schaeffer 154) Rousseau foresaw