Lines Composed A Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey Analysis

William Wordsworth’s “Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey, on Revisiting the Banks of the Wye during a Tour, July 13, 1798” talks about returning to a place he had been five years before with his sister, Dorothy. The poet spends most of his time reflecting upon the magnificence of nature found at the abbey and along the river, and the worship of nature. Yet in the last section of the poem, Wordsworth turn those feelings previously reserved for his natural landscape to his sister, Dorothy and address his hopes and dreams to her. The address to Dorothy is not only simply serving as a mirror for Wordsworth to recall how he was once, but also reflects further meaning and understanding of harmony for the whole text—in specific, the turn …show more content…
At the beginning of “Tintern Abbey,” the rustic scenery that people immerse in their surroundings present a blend of wildness and civilization. The poet sees the hedges around the fields and wreaths of smoke coming from some Hermits making the fire in their cave. These images show the abbey seems simply nature scenery, but it is intertwining with human life. Here the poem guides the audience to consider if the poet is pursuing something greater than the singular elements of nature, but a harmonious coexistence of nature and human. The last stanza of the poem affirms Wordsworth’s attitude towards the relationship of human and nature by articulating the indispensable need and love for his sister, Dorothy--“If I were not thus taught, should I the more/ Suffer my genial spirits to decay/ For thou art with me here upon the banks/” (112-115). Here the poet conveys the message that his happiness does not fully depend on the spiritual experience of natural world, the interaction and connecting of people are also important. In the prior verse paragraph, the speaker relies heavily on descriptions of nature to complement worship of the natural and particularly reinforces the substantial influence of nature on personal spiritual development. After that, the poem turns to address the importance of Dorothy in his life and highlight a fact: for …show more content…
In previous part of the poem, Wordsworth lists the gifts he has received from nature world: the ability to “look on nature” and hear “human music” and something spiritual. Nature act as a noble tribute to the “anchor, nurse, guardian and guide” of the speaker’s “heart and soul” (109- 110). Nature provides him with a moral compass, assist him with the spiritual development so that he sees nature as a source to modify man’s behavior. Correspondingly, in the last stanza, Wordsworth acts as a guide for his sister Dorothy and teaches her to overcome the vexation of being mature. At the same time, the apostrophe “My dear, dear Friend” (116) could be understood as the address to readers, the poet believes the harmony between man and nature can ease human spirit to find further meaning of life and lead life from” joy to joy” (125) in a way that civilization cannot. Dorothy also could be regarded as the agent of the reader. On one hand, the poet brings reader and himself closer to each other and emphasize the harmonious relationship that throughout the whole text. The speaker on the other hands intends to awake those people who involved in the industrialization revolution and overlooking the balance of human-nature relationship by exhorting Dorothy. The poet He provides a way to make the reader of the poem along this path of spiritual experience he received