Tintern Abbey Three Stages of Development

“Tintern Abbey”- Three stages of development in
Wordsworth’s attitude to nature.

Wordsworth’s “Tintern Abbey” is often regarded as a faithful document of psychological
value. The poem, composed in 1798 and published in The Lyrical Ballads, shows that ‘quiet
meditative music’ of which Wordsworth is the supreme master. Wordsworth here records
the change of his attitude to Nature at different periods of his life. The first stanza of the
poem is a beautiful picture of the ineffable charm of Nature. However, as a contemplative
poet Wordsworth dwells not so much on ‘beauteous forms’ but he reflects on the influences
of those forms on his soul.
To Wordsworth, Nature is never a mere collection of the mute insensate things’ but a
vitalizing spirit that dwell in the wood, the steep, lofty cliffs and lonely streams. A spiritual
communion can be established with this indwelling spirit. In the second stanza of “Tintern
Abbey” Wordsworth very beautifully refers to this. Nature is to him a spiritual presence that
endures through physical absence. She not merely causes a tremendous vibration of the
senses, but courses through the vein and soon comes to affect the mind, restoring
tranquility and perfect peace. This trance-like ‘blessed mood’ also relieves the ‘burthen of
mystery’.
In the long fourth stanza of the poem, the poet beautifully chronicles the thee stages of
development in his attitude to Nature to prove why he is “still/ A Lover of the meadows and
the woods,/ And mountains; and of all that we behold/ From this green earth; of all the
mighty world/ Of eye, and ear”. Standing on the Wye valley, Wordsworth is rapt in deep
meditation of an inextinguishable charm of Nature. The poet feels that he is changed a lot
from what once he was. As a boy when he turned to Nature he would find ample
enthusiasm and pleasure in the elegant objects of Nature. In this phase of carefree delight
the poet ‘bounded o’er the mountain’ ‘like a roe’. To mature Wordsworth such ‘glad animal
movements’ were the source of ‘coarser pleasure’ of ‘boyish days’.
Gradually his coarser childish pleasure is replaced by a deep sensuous enjoyment of the
beauties of Nature. ‘The sounding cataract’ haunted the poet ‘like a passion’. The colour
and forms of Nature were then as over-riding as an appetite. The lofty cliffs, the deep
forests, the rivers their colours and forms – filled his heart with an ecstatic joy.. At such
ecstatic moments of sensuous apprehension of Nature, the poet hardly needed a ‘remoter
charm,/ By thought supplied, nor any interest / Unborrowed from the eye”.
However, the sensuous delight, poetically expressed by the excellent phrases like ‘dizzy
rapture’ and ‘aching joys’, is replaced by a sober and contemplative delight. The transition
from the sensuous to the supra-sensuous has not dismayed the poet. He would neither
‘faint nor mourn, nor murmur’, for the ‘impassioned contemplation’ that succeeds sensuous
ecstasy is ‘abundant recompense’ for such a loss. The poet’s soul is humanized by the
‘deep distress’ of man – ‘the still sad music of humanity’. He finds in Nature “an ample
power /To chasten and subdue”. The poet is endowed with the apocalyptic vision of a
“presence that disturbs me with the joy / Of elevated thoughts; a sense sublime / Of
something far more deeply interfused”. The poet is moved by a profound notion of
Pantheism and envisions the presence of a spirit in every object of nature.
In this third stage of his attitude to Nature, humanity is not relegated to the backdrop,
however. Rather, in the inclusive vision of the poet, man and Nature are harmonized and
inextricable fused. That is why the poet hails Nature as the “nurse / The guide, the guardian
of my heart, and soul / Of all my moral being”. The poet’s impassioned address to Dorothy
in the concluding stanza of the poem seems to convey the prophetic message that if Nature
be made the anchor of ‘purest thoughts’, the mystery of life would be revealed, in a flash.
In conclusion, Wordsworth’s view of nature in “Tintern Abbey” is one of deep appreciation

and reverence. He sees nature as a source of inspiration, renewal, and spiritual
enlightenment. For Wordsworth, nature has the power to transform and enrich the human
soul, and it is a gift that should be cherished and protected. The beauty of nature can
connect us to the past and the future, and it can create a sense of continuity that
spans generations.
Subhankar Acharjya
Mob.: 8001766087, 7908935687

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“Tintern Abbey”- Three stages of development in

Wordsworth’s attitude to nature.

In conclusion, Wordsworth’s view of nature in “Tintern Abbey” is one of deep appreciation

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