Tintern Abbey Analysis

LLC 402: Poetry & Criticism
Assignment 1
Anesh Prasad s060217 The nature can be used to make inferences to the presence of a supreme being amongst the humans. William Wordsworth has done this marvellously in his two poems the Tintern Abbey and It’s a Beauteous Evening, calm and free.
William Wordsworth who was born in England in 1770 wrote many beautiful poems that dealt with nature. He was acclaimed a literary figure and was awarded the poet Laureate. This was one status he died with in 1850.
The title tells us that Wordsworth is revisiting the Wye Valley. In this poem Wordsworth is revisiting, recalling, adjusting his memory of a place and adding to the strength of its power over him.
The poem begins with how Wordsworth

The first time when he visited Wye Valley, which was five years back, he “bounded over the mountains like a roe’’. This simply portrays his boyish appreciation of the nature. But at the very present time, he has a broader perspective of nature where he makes connections between nature and religion or presumably god.
“that blessed mood,… In body, and become a living soul;”( Stanza 2 Lines 40-49).
He feels the divine presence in the nature that soothes him out of his “weariness” (stanza 2 line 25).
Also, he certainly does see nature as the ultimate creator and himself as her worshipper. (Duncan. S Wordsworth and Nature: Growing Old Together in "Tintern Abbey"). According to Sara Duncan, Wordsworth uses devotional words in a very naturalistic mode to describe nature. . The poem begins with him sitting under a sycamore tree which according to the bible is the symbol of faith and renewal process. Visiting Wye Valley after five years for Wordsworth can be said to be like a pilgrimage where his self-renewal and self-purity takes place in “these beauteous forms”. (Stanza 2 line

The poem once again shows the religious power that Wordsworth feels in nature when he takes a walk along the beach. Wordsworth through this poem portrays that god is not separate being who resides away from us. He implies that god is everywhere especially in nature. Divinity is evident in God, and in nature through three main qualities: power, eternity and perfection. In “It Is a Beauteous Evening, Calm and Free”, nature is described as being “breathless with adoration”(stanza 1 line 3) This suggests that nature possesses underlying energy and power which is similar to a supreme being. Like “Tintern Abbey” Wordsworth uses his daughter’s childhood to relay to the readers that in innocence lives purity which directly makes connection with