blog




  • Essay / Naturalism at Tintern Abbey

    William Wordsworth was an English Romantic poet with a vast body of work, and naturalism abounds in almost all of his poetry. Nature is a major theme in Wordsworth's famous works such as "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" and "It's a Beautiful Evening, Still and Free". However, perhaps his most naturalistic work is “Tintern Abbey.” Wordsworth views nature as a good, even necessary, influence that can ultimately shape a person's behavior and personality and even help them learn from past mistakes. This is the case in “Tintern Abbey,” in which the speaker recounts the beautiful and natural sights of this place. “Tintern Abbey” expresses Wordsworth's naturalism through a vivid description of natural scenes and his explanation of the refuge these sites provided and the personal growth they stimulated. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Wordsworth's poem is divided into four long stanzas. In the first stanza, Wordsworth dives straight into his description of this place near Tintern Abbey, but not before pointing out how much time has passed since his last visit. Obviously: “Five years have passed; five summers, with the length / Of five long winters! (Wordsworth 1-2). This is significant because it demonstrates and emphasizes Wordsworth's attachment to this place from the very beginning. Wordsworth then recounts every detail as if he had been there yesterday. It's "nature this" and "nature that" for much of the first 22 lines as it sets the stage for the rest of the poem. Wordsworth describes: “These waters spring from their mountain springs / With a sweet inward murmur” (Wordsworth 3-4). He's very excited to be here again, and it's almost like he can't decide what to see first. He feels like he's a boy again, visiting this place for the first time and feeling completely overwhelmed by the incredible views. “The day has come when I rest again / Here, under this dark sycamore, and I gaze / These cottage plots, these clumps of orchards” (Wordsworth 9-11). “Once more I see / These hedges, barely hedges, these little lines / Of wild sporting woods” (Wordsworth 14-16). This place must have had a profound effect on Wordsworth for him to remember it so clearly. No detail is missing from this natural wonderland. Perhaps these details stayed with him because they were frequently present in his mind. Wordsworth says, “But often, in lonely rooms and amid the din / Of towns and cities, I have owed them / In hours of weariness, sweet sensations” (Wordsworth 26-28). The beauty of nature served as a refuge for him in hours of weariness and helped him to live in the hustle and bustle of the city. In his youth these visions amazed and fascinated him, but as an adult he is able to view them with a more mature perspective. “These beautiful forms, / I perhaps owed them another gift, Of a more sublime appearance; that blessed mood, / In which the heavy and weary weight / Of all this unintelligible world, / Is lightened” (Wordsworth 23, 37-38, 40-42). Wordsworth owes much to the natural beauty of this place. These views of nature have comforted him over the past five years and allowed him to overcome a world-weary attitude. In Wordsworth's mind, and in poetry for that matter, nature is a symbol of hope. This place near Tintern Abbey is his refuge because he remembers it as a place full of wonder and hope. Additionally, Wordsworth describes this mood as an almost meditative state. The world-weary weight is lifted and replaced by a “mood. 2014.