Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Lines (Tintern Abbey)

In the last verse paragraph, the speaker addresses another. This is why the poem is considered a "conversation poem". For purposes of this prompt, how does the poem change here? What does the speaker wish for his companion?

This poem starts off in a beautiful description of the land and things that he (technically the speaker, but here Wordsworth is certainly the speaker) has seen, recalled, and experienced. These are landscapes he would remember fondly when alone. He makes the state of remembrance almost like meditation. Throughout, it's not as much about him as it is about the beauty and what it brings out in him. Then in the final verse, he changes. Instead of simply speaking, a Friend is being addressed. This friend is found to be his sister. Here he sees in her his former self, how he once was and remembers being. Also though his tone shifts. This part is not as much about the nature and peace that he had missed, but about how he is advising her to do as he has done and use the joys of the land and the appreciation of it when things might bring her down. He says in his final lines, "And this green pastoral landscapes, were to me//More dear, both for themselves and for thy sake!" In the end, he seems to hold the land's memories dear because with it he can recall his sister as well.

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