TINTERN ABBEY - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

TINTERN ABBEY

WILLIAM WORDSWORTHSlide2

FIVE years have past; five summers, with the length

Of five long winters

!

The speaker

opens by telling us how much time

has passed since he

last visited this place.

“this” place -

"a Few Miles above

Tintern

Abbey," on the "Banks of the Wye

"

"

five long winters

.“ – emphasising that its been a long while.Slide3

and again I

hear…Once

again

He’s returned to this place.

He sees and hears all

the

beauty that

he remembers from his first visit

.

This is where he starts to describe those

impressions and memories,

and he starts with what he can hear: the sound of the "mountain-springs."Slide4

Do I behold

…quiet

of the sky.

The word “again” is repeated for emphasis. This is not his first visit.

Everything is as he remembered it. "

steep and lofty cliffs."

“the

mountain

cliffs” “the sycamore”

The scene impresses or compels the speaker to think “thoughts

of

deep seclusion”

Those

cliffs

look as if they are columns connecting the landscape to the sky.Slide5

The day is come when I again repose

Here, under this dark sycamore, and view

These plots of cottage-ground, these orchard-tufts,

Which at this season, with their unripe fruits,

Are clad in one green hue, and lose themselves

'Mid groves and copses. 

Here's that word, "again," again.

The speaker

rests under the sycamore.

He sees the cottage grounds, orchards and groves and copses.

Because the fruits are still unripe the speaker says that when he looks down they “orchard tufts” get mingled with groves and copses.

Everything looks green. Its difficult to tell whether a group of trees belongs to a grove or an orchard.Slide6

These hedge-rows,

…from

among the trees!

The

"hedge-rows,"

look as if they have run wild (haphazard).

The

speaker

can see "wreaths

of smoke" appearing

from near the pastoral farms.

The

smoke goes up "in silence."

Its still a very quiet scene being described.Slide7

With some uncertain notice, as might seem

Of vagrant dwellers in the houseless woods,

Or of some Hermit's cave, where by his fire

The Hermit sits alone.

The

speaker imagines that the smoke could come from the fire of a "vagrant"

– someone homeless who has found shelter in the woods

Or maybe the smoke is coming from a cave where a "Hermit,"

lives.Slide8

These beauteous forms,

Through a long absence, have not been to me

As is a landscape to a blind man's eye:

This stanza goes into a kind of flashback, describing the way the speaker felt during the "five years" that had passed.

Since his last visit, the memory of the "beauteous forms,"

he's

just described, has

always been in his mind as if he could almost see it. (unlike a "landscape

to a blind man," who

would never be

able to

see/imagine

it fully

.)Slide9

But oft, in lonely rooms, and 'mid the din

Of towns and cities, I have owed to them

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: 

The memory

of those "beauteous forms"

comfort the speaker when

he was "lonely"

or

caught"din

" (noise), of "towns and

cities“.

The ‘sensations sweet” are so powerful that he can feel them in every iota of his being – “blood”, “heart” and ‘

m

ind”

The

memory of this

scene could

"restore" him to "

tranquility

," or

peace.Slide10

– feelings too

Of unremembered pleasure: such, perhaps,

As have no slight or trivial influence

On that best portion of a good man's life,

His little, nameless, unremembered, acts

Of kindness and of love. 

Remembering the "beauteous forms" also

reminded the speaker of

"unremembered pleasure," or pleasant things that

may have seemed

insignificant at the time, but are actually really important.

It's the memory of having done nice things for people, even if each individual act of kindness was "little, nameless, [or] unremembered" by the

person.Slide11

Nor less, I trust,

To them I may have owed another gift,

Of aspect more sublime;

The speaker thinks that he

has

the"beauteous

forms"

to thank for another gift.

This says that this gift is

"sublime

,"

– lofty and life-

changingly

spiritual.Slide12

that blessed mood,

In which the burthen of the mystery,

In which the heavy and the weary weight

Of all this unintelligible world,

Is lightened:

The "sublime" gift

was

a "blessed mood" that made the weight of the world seem lighter.

It’s a powerful

mood, right

there.

The speaker feels that the memory of the beautiful scene help him to stop him bothering about the incomprehensible

, and

mysterious aspects

of the

world.Slide13

– that serene and blessed mood

,… living

soul:

The speaker tells us more about the "blessed

mood“

He is already in a “lightened” mood and now his

"affections" take him a step further.

"

affections"

- his

feeling for his friends and family or for nature in general, or

a

combination of both.

The

"affections lead" him to a place where his physical body (the "corporeal frame")

becomes

almost irrelevant. Even his blood has almost stopped moving in his veins.

It is only

the

soul that

matters.

The speaker it seems is in a trance. Its like what is supposed to happen when a person is in deep meditation.

For the speaker the memories of the “

beauteos

forms” gives him this meditative experience.

The speaker switches from first

person singular

("

I", "me," "my," etc.) to the first person plural ("us", "we," "our", etc

.).

It's

as though the speaker wants us (the reader) to be included in the meditative trance he's describing.Slide14

While with an eye made quiet by the power

Of harmony, and the deep power of joy,

We see into the life of things.

“

While with an eye made quiet

“ -

the

speaker is

in the trance so he is not

aware of his immediate, physical

surroundings.

And now that he is detached from the physical world he can see "see

into the life of things," or,

is

able to see things as they really are and figure out how everything is interconnected in ways that we can't always put into words.Slide15

If

this…turned

to thee

!

This entire stanza is ONE LOOOOOOOOOONG sentence

He asks hypothetically that suppose his theory (

about how it's possible for the memories of beautiful things to lead you to a state where you understand important truths about the world) is

just

a "vain belief

.“ i.e. its not true.

For a moment he considers the possibility that’s this belief of his is false.

But then he remembers the many times these memories have made helped him out of a depressed state and realizes that for him its true. He does feel happy.Slide16

And now, with gleams of half-extinguished thought,

With many recognitions dim and faint,

And somewhat of a sad perplexity,

The picture of the mind revives again:

The flashback is over.

The speaker is back in the .

Memories of

his first visit are

being revived

In the process, though, he's experiencing "somewhat of a sad

perplexity a slight confusion about

how his present impressions match up with his "dim and faint" recollections.

H

e

finally manages to "revive,"

"

picture of the mind," and remember his earlier

impressions.Slide17

While here I stand, not only with the sense

Of present pleasure, but with pleasing thoughts

That in this moment there is life and food

For future years. 

The speaker

is standing and enjoying the

view.

He's

happy for 2 reasons.

First

, because that view is

beautiful.

Second

, because he's

feels that in future this memory will bring him joy.Slide18

And so I dare to hope,

Though changed, no doubt, from what I was when first

I came among these hills;

The speaker hopes that he'll live to look back on this moment with pleasure.

Then

he starts reflecting on how much he's changed since his first visit (five years before).Slide19

when like a

roe/ I

bounded o'er the mountains, by the

sides/Of

the deep rivers, and the lonely streams,

Wherever nature led:

Another

flashback: the speaker is describing himself from five years ago.

Back

then,

the young poet leaped

and "bounded"

all

over the place like

deer

– just going "wherever nature led

"Slide20

more like a man

Flying from something that he dreads, than one

Who sought the thing he loved. 

The

poet feels that at that time he seemed

to be running away from something, rather than

looking for

something "he loved

"

The thing "he loved" is probably nature, but it's not clear who or what the speaker thinks

he

was

running

from

when he was a young boy.Slide21

For nature

then/

(

The coarser pleasures of my boyish days,

And their glad animal movements all gone

by)

To

me was all in all

.

Nature

meant everything to

the poet.

The

speaker says that the "coarser"

as

inless

refined or sophisticated "pleasures" that

he

enjoyed as a boy, and his "glad animal movements" (i.e., the innocent and

unthinking bounding through

the mountains) are all over. Slide22

I cannot paint

What then I was.

The speaker interrupts himself with a dash to claim that he can't describe his past self in

words.

This

is kind of ironic,

because

that that's exactly what he's doing, and what

he will do through the rest of the poem.

He probably means its difficult to fully describe

homself

as he was when he was a first visited this place.Slide23

The sounding

cataract/Haunted

me like a passion: the tall

rock,/The

mountain, and the deep and gloomy wood

,/Their

colours and their forms, were then to

me/An

appetite; a feeling and a love

,/That

had no need of a remoter charm

,/By

thought supplied, nor any

interest/

Unborrowed

from the eye.

The speaker has just said that nature

meant

everything to

him when he was young.

The

waterfall

, took the place of his "passion," and the

colours and forms of

the "mountain" and the "wood" were his appetite.

Nature supplied his "feeling" and "love," too – and without the need for intellectual "thought," since nature had enough "charm" and "interest" on its own.Slide24

That

time is past

,/And

all its aching joys are now no more

,/And

all its dizzy raptures. Not for this

Faint I, nor mourn nor murmur, other gifts

Have followed; for such loss, I would believe,

Abundant

recompence

.

The speaker can no longer experience the same "aching

joys“ and

"dizzy raptures"

that the way he did when he was young.

He

can just remember them.

The speaker isn't

worried about that.

He might not experience the "aching joys," but he has "other gifts"

now

that "

recompence

"

or

make up for

it (aching joys and dizzy raptures).Slide25

For I have

learned/To

look on nature, not as in the

hour/Of

thoughtless youth; but hearing

oftentimes/The

still, sad music of humanity

,/Nor

harsh nor grating, though of ample

power/To

chasten and subdue.

The

speaker has

matured. No longer is there unreflecting

, un-intellectual, "thoughtless" appreciation of nature.

Now, when he looks at nature, he's able to hear "the still, sad music of humanity," which seems to mean that he can sense some universal, timeless connection between nature and all of humanity.

He looks but instead of seeing he says he hears. A mixing up of senses.

This "still, sad music,"

is not unpleasant. It

must be kind of pleasant, actually.

The music is

powerful.

It can "chasten and subdue" the speaker, or, in other words, it can make him feel both humbled and calm.Slide26

And I have

felt/ A

presence that disturbs me with the

joy/ Of

elevated thoughts; a sense

sublime/ Of

something far more deeply

interfused

,

Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns

,/And

the round ocean and the living air

,/And

the blue sky, and in the mind of man;

When he hears the "still, sad music of humanity," the speaker says that he feels some kind of "presence

". He doesn’t clarify what this presence is

Nature

?God

? Some indefinable force of good?

The "presence" (whatever it is) "disturbs" the speaker, but in a good way.

It helps him lift

his

thoughts

to higher things.

The "presence" also gives the speaker a sense that there's "something" like a divine presence that exists "deeply

interfused

," or blended in with everything around it.

This "something" lives in "the light of setting suns

",

in "the round ocean and the living air

",

in "the blue sky

",

and even "in the mind of man

".

This "something"

exists

in everything in nature, surrounding us, filling us, and binding the universe together. Slide27

A motion and a spirit, that impels

All thinking things, all objects of all thought,

And rolls through all things.

The

"something"

is now defined as "a

motion and a spirit," that

rules

all things that

think.

Repetition of "all

"

- to

emphasize that this "spirit" connects 

every

thing

.Slide28

Therefore am I

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, – both what they half create

,/ And

what perceive; 

This is why the speaker still considers himself a "lover" of nature. It's because

he feels that

the "presence"

connects

everything.

So the speaker loves everything "that we

behold”.

So

the speaker is saying that he loves what his "eyes and ears" "half create"

as

well as "what

they

perceive

".

the

speaker suggests that

whatever we see and hear is coloured by our thoughts.Slide29

well pleased to

recognise/In

nature and the language of the sense,

The anchor of my purest thoughts, the nurse

,/ The

guide, the guardian of my heart, and

soul/Of

all my moral being.

The speaker is happy to see the "presence"

in

nature and the language of the sense" (in other words, in his own sense perceptions).

He

calls

the “presence”

"the anchor of my purest thoughts, the nurse,/ The guide, the guardian of my heart, and soul/ Of all my moral being

".

Clearly

, this "presence" is very important to the speaker's spirituality if it's the "anchor" that keeps his "thoughts" pure, as well as the "guardian of

his heart

" and the "soul" of his "moral being."Slide30

Nor perchance,

If I were not thus taught, should I the more

Suffer my genial spirits to decay:

The

speaker says that even if he weren't "thus taught" – even if he hadn't learned about the "presence" in nature – he still wouldn't "suffer his genial spirits to decay."

Meaning,

he wouldn't allow his natural sympathy and kindness to go to waste.Slide31

For thou art with me here upon the

banks/Of

this fair river; thou my dearest Friend

,/My

dear, dear Friend; and in thy voice I

catch/The

language of my former heart, and

read/My

former pleasures in the shooting

lights/Of

thy wild eyes. Oh! yet a little

while/May

I behold in thee what I was once

,/

My dear, dear Sister!

The

reason why he won't let his "genial spirits" go to

waste is because

"thou art"

i.e. his sister Dorothy is with

him on the banks of the river Wye.

He

says that her

voice reminds

him of the way he used to feel ("the language of my former heart"), and her "wild

eyes“ remind

him of his "former

pleasures“.

So the speaker seems to be saying that present-day Dorothy reacts to nature in the same way that

he

did when he was here five years ago.

He says that he can see his past self

in

her.Slide32

and this prayer I make

,……Is

full of blessings

.

The speaker

prays that

he can continue to see his former self in his sister.

He prays to nature.

Nature will

answer the speaker's prayer because he's a Nature-lover.

He says Nature will always lead us from one joy to another and make

sure that we only have

lofty thoughts and

will keep our minds full of

quietness

and

beauty.

He says nature will protect us from all the negativity of the world like - malicious people ,

misjudegement

, people who look down upon others, or the daily rut

os

life.

Nature will help us keep “simple faith” and which will keep all help us overcome all the above mentioned things.Slide33

Therefore let the

…sounds

and harmonies; 

The speaker

utters a

blessing

for Dorothy

: "let the moon/

…blow

against

thee“

The

speaker wants Dorothy to experience nature the way that

he experienced

it five years ago. He wants her to have the same "wild

ecstasies“.

So when Dorothy mature

slike

him he pleasure in

natre

will also become “sober” just like his did on his second visit.

Just as the "beauteous forms"

lingeres

in the speaker's memory, Dorothy's mind will become

a "mansion for all lovely

forms“.Slide34

oh! then

,…And

these my exhortations!

If all this happens – if Dorothy's mind

becomes a dwelling place for memories of her visit

then, later on, "if solitude, or fear, or pain, or grief"

should upset

her, she'll be able to

dig into her memory

and have "healing thoughts"

that

will make her feel better.

“Healing thoughts” - her

memories of how

she and brother stood at this place and her brother’s "exhortations

"

or

encouragements.

The speaker imagines that Dorothy's memories of

the scene will

soothe her in the future, just as his memories of them soothed him in the past.Slide35

Nor, perchance – 

…and for thy sake!

Now

the speaker imagines a future after he has

died or when

they're not together

anymore.

He asks Dorothy if she'll forget having "stood together"

on

the banks of the Wye after he's gone.

He

asks if she'll forget that her brother

who

has loved Nature for

so long and come back to

the banks of the Wye with an even deeper love of nature than he felt before.

The speaker does not expect an answer. Of

course she won't forget!

She also won't

forget,

that after all this time the

view from the banks of the Wye are even more precious to him than they were before – both for its own sake (because

it’s a beautiful scene) and

for her sake.