The Gift of a Memory

 Perhaps one of the most appreciated romantic poets in both the literary and non-literary sphere, Wordsworth is a master at connecting his love of nature with his past, present, and future. To him, nature and poetry combined is the surface of water in which is revealed the reflection of his heart. The imagery he uses is familiar to readers because everyone with eyes to see can observe the natural beauty that he depicts.

At the beginning of his poem "Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey", he mentions that it has been "five summers, with the length/ Of five long winters" since he had seen this beautiful place he describes (lines 1/2). In the amount of time he has been gone, he still hasn't forgotten the joy and peace the memory of this place has brought him and upholds its image as something so restoring to his mind that it positively affects even his present and future actions. "These beauteous forms,/.../In hours of weariness, sensations sweet,/Felt in the blood and felt along the heart;/ And passing even into my purer mind/ With tranquil restoration:.../.../As have no slight or trivial influence on that best portion of a good man's life,/His little... acts/Of kindness and love..."

In conclusion, Wordsworth conveys his belief that nature and its beauty has a direct impact on a humnan's state of mind. Its own beauty rubs off on the observer, doing everything to conform it to its own.  He goes so far as to show this part of nature as influencing his actions, and giving living restoration. His sight therefore renewed, he can end his majestic poem with an observation: "While with an eye made quiet by the power/Of harmony, and the deep power of joy,/We see into the life of things."


P.S. I commented on Emma P's and Braylan S's posts

Comments

  1. Samantha TOctober 18, 2021 at 11:34 PM

    Hailey,
    I agree with you that Wordsworth is a master poet. The example as nature and poetry coming together to form a watery mirror to his heart is a beautiful way to describe his work.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ashlyn ScismOctober 19, 2021 at 10:46 AM

    It is true that Wordsworth is well known and for good reason. He has a way with word and description. Every line he writes about nature is so immersive, the reader feels as if they have experienced the same thing or at least something similar. The romantics love to capture the grandeur of nature and the wonder of youth and Wordsworth is no exception.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A House Divided//Emily Otts

The words Jesus spoke in Matthew 12 remind me so much of this play: "Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand." (Matthew 12:25) King Lear, at the end of the day, is about a family being divided multiple ways. These divisions arise over greed and hatred for one another and cause the whole family to be ruined because of it. King Lear first divides the kingdom after his daughter Cordelia does not proclaim her love to him, so he banishes her. Later, his daughters go against him for not doing as they asked, believing he is unfit and unworthy to be king, secretly plotting against him. But all of this comes to a head in Act 5. After capturing King Lear and Cordelia, Edmund plans to have them killed. You would believe the sisters would be able to work together because their plan is working, but an even greater division has risen between them. Both of them wish to have Edmund for themselves, and they plot against each o...
Read more

The Plague in Everyone// Emily Otts

     In part 4 of the Plague , Tarrou tells Rieux about how he has had the plague forever. Except, this is not the same plague as the one ravaging the town. Tarrou speaks of how his father was a lawyer who believed in the death penalty, how he saw so many people support it and be comfortable about it, and how he had to witness the executions of prisoners. He explains how this sort of mindset is a plague itself, one Tarrou had been fighting for a long time. " That's why everybody in the world looks so tired; everyone is more or less sick of plague. But that is also why some of us, those who want to get the plague out of their systems, feel such desperate weariness, a weariness from which nothing remains to set us free except death" (Camus, part 4, chapter 6). Tarrou wants to desperately not submit to such awful ways of thinking.      Tarrou does not realize it, but the plague he is talking about is sin. Everyone has it, some people give in to it and let...
Read more

The Thirst for Knowledge

     With Book Seven of Milton's Paradise Lost, Raphael is continuing his exposition on Satan's apostasy. The plan is to expose Adam and Eve to the wretched fate of those who cross God's will. The more he shed's light on the subject, however, the more Adam is inclined to ask for more information. He wants to know everything about the subject, as well as God and His creation.      However, while the taste of such knowledge leaves Adam yearning for more, there are boundaries. It is like a toddler eating a cookie... and eventually begging her mother for the rest of the jar. Is it a coincidence that the one thing Adam and Eve are not to touch is the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil? Most readers know how the story ends: these toddlers are never going to be content with a few cookies. They're going in for the jar.   There is a statement in the Bible that is constantly being repeated throughout the Old Testament: "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of ...
Read more