Lit Hints on Wordsworth "Tintern Abbey"

As mentioned in class, make sure you read William Wordsworth's "Tintern Abbey" before you come into class on Monday. It's a long and slightly difficult poem to grasp, but definitely well-worth it since it is a landmark poem! So there, use the following hints to help you comprehend the poem.....and then try relating to other poems we've studied.....

Stanza 1 (Lines 1-22):

Persona returns to place (Tintern Abbey) he was once familiar with and loves....

Stanza 2 (Lines 23-50):

This scene (of Tintern Abbey) has been with him all this while, even during his absence from it physically, giving him 'unremembered pleasure' and relief from stress of the world ("blessed mood")

Stanza 3 (Lines 51-59):

Persona has often turned to memories of the beautiful landscape at Tintern Abbey when under stress....

Stanza 4(Lines 60-113):

End of flashback...persona back to stanza one....Persona compares his feelings towards nature during childhood and now. Now, he has a more matured appreciation of nature and its roles and functions in persona's life, not just aesthetic beauty, which he sees only during childhood....

Stanza 5(Lines 114-162):

from nature to 'friend', the sister.....nature protects against evil and stress of life, and gives happiness...healing powers of nature...evoking happy memories even when loved ones are dead...ability to give sustenance....tri-partite relationship btw persona, sister/friend and nature....

READ AND ENJOY! It's one of Wordsworth's most beautiful poem....

GCM