First of all, how ironic that I had to read Wordsworth's intimations of immortality today for critical theory...
The first time that I read Wordsworth's Tintern Abbey was probably about a month ago when I was at Sola...I thought maybe it was the atmosphere or my mood, but I could not understand him (maybe didn't want to for some reason). I was lost and almost bored, though I hate to use that word. The classical style caused me not to SEE it, only READ it. Dr. Sexson is right though, now that we have been in Capstone, we will read it differently.
Wordsworth's epiphany or recollection of this place, as with much of his poetry has a lot of images of nature. I feel like perhaps my blog will go off in many directions because I am making a lot of random connections and have some ideas that do not necessarily connect. I enjoyed the image of the crab (lines 22-23) and the idea of solitude or being alone. They often go unnoticed and similar to humans keep to themselves in their own "cave".
"Almost suspended, we are laid asleep In body, and became a living soul, While with an eye made quiet by the power of harmony, and the deep power of joy, we see into the life of things"
- I think of entering into the dream world which, yes, is mostly a world of beauty and joy, things forgotten are awakened. But the dream world, as we all know, can also be a world of deeper power filled with hurt and sadness. I like that Wordsworth focuses on the joy it seems and the image of dreaming-- an eye made quiet puts an image in my mind of entering into a sleep or perhaps it has nothing to do with sleep and dreams but simply seeing your thoughts with your eyes open. By this I mean, you are looking in, not out even while your eyes appear to be looking out.
"Sylvan Wye"-- here there is a connection between spirit and the river through language. I posted a picture above of the River Wye, a river along the border of Wales and England.
"The picture of the mind revives again"- for Wordsworth this simply shows that he has opened his eyes and sees nature (previous lines) , looking back to his thoughts deep in his mind.
"Present Pleasure" (around line 65) followed by: "...in this moment there is life and food For future years". I find this very interesting because he sees the positive to the future whereas Eliot sees descent and "Wistful regret for those who are not yet here to regret" (dry salvages, pt3, line 127).
Wordsworth is "more like a man flying from soemthing that he dreads, than one who sought the thing he loved" (line71) and I think why dowe run when we are given so few moments (eliot) or so few pulses (pater).
I loved Wordsworth's mention of passion as well! He says around line 78 "...haunted me like a passion" while he is speaking of a waterfall, I think of passion in general. And while some may think that nothing good comes of Desperate Housewives, the show...I disagree...I was a bit into this over winter break and remember a quote from one episode... "Passion, it's a force so potent we remember it long after it's gone". I absolutely love this quote and really it's true. Passion is one feeling that can arouse so many emotions at once it is simply enthralling...except passion itself is not so simple. Wordsworth states it brilliantly, passion is "haunting" to the level that it can over take us in a way nothing else does...There are so many things I feel that I could go on with this one word "passion" but it's a lot to take on at this hour...
We have also been discussing poets and their ability to steal from their successors (which we have also been doing in Critical Theory) and I am beginning to think that while Wordsworth did not STEAL from Eliot (though it could be interesting to accuse such a thing) he did borrow (although I am unsure which came first so maybe it's the other way around). Wordsworth writes "That time is past" but unlike Eliot he does not make the connection between past, present and future. Eliot would say, sure that time is past but it is also present, yes it is the end but it is also the beginning and vice versa...Love it!
Wordsworth brings up the sublime towards the end of the poem and I am hoping that perhaps Kari could go through the sublime briefly again as she did in Literary Criticism. I attempted to find a blog from her on it from 300, but couldn't. I will leave it at that and see what comes...
There are so many connections to Eliot that I think for most people are minor but considering I have an obession ( I can't help but laugh) I notice them!!! Wordsworth describes the music of humanity as still and sad, but that music won't last as Eliot tells us...and WE are the music- so in turn, we will not last, but should we be still and sad in our few moments? maybe it would be more fun to be the music of the "thoughtless youth" (wordsworth), is that possible?
What I take from Wordsworth's poem especially near the end is that humanity is closer to nature than we realize, it is "the guardian of my heart, and soul of all my moral being". He himself is with his spirits when he is upon the banks of that river.
When Wordsworth talks about his "former heart" and "former pleasures" is he talking about his past or pointing to the idea of reincarnation? It seems that while both could be possible the first is more appropriate as he seems to be discsussing something that he has put his whole heart and pleasures into but may have lost, therefore speaking of a former life, not in the literal sense.
He too speaks of the mundane life that should not bring us down or "disturb our chearful faith that all which we behold is full of blessings". Circling back to the idea that every moment, even the ordinary is a moment given to us that we should take advantage of.
"Nor wilt thou then forget,
That after many wanderings, many years
Of absence, these steep woods and lofty cliffs,
And this green pastoral landscape, were to me
More dear, both for themselves and for thy sake."
-This passage is so beautiful to me and I can't really describe what I feel everytime I read it. I am taken aback and breathless. Wordsworth, in this passage, captures not only the physical beauty of the landscape but the beauty of his memory and all that still remains there even though it is physically absent. He is reminded of something he once had, but lost...it is something that he may never again have but will always remember. This place has become dear to him for what it offers him in both the present and in memory as if it still existed.
The first time that I read Wordsworth's Tintern Abbey was probably about a month ago when I was at Sola...I thought maybe it was the atmosphere or my mood, but I could not understand him (maybe didn't want to for some reason). I was lost and almost bored, though I hate to use that word. The classical style caused me not to SEE it, only READ it. Dr. Sexson is right though, now that we have been in Capstone, we will read it differently.
Wordsworth's epiphany or recollection of this place, as with much of his poetry has a lot of images of nature. I feel like perhaps my blog will go off in many directions because I am making a lot of random connections and have some ideas that do not necessarily connect. I enjoyed the image of the crab (lines 22-23) and the idea of solitude or being alone. They often go unnoticed and similar to humans keep to themselves in their own "cave".
"Almost suspended, we are laid asleep In body, and became a living soul, While with an eye made quiet by the power of harmony, and the deep power of joy, we see into the life of things"
- I think of entering into the dream world which, yes, is mostly a world of beauty and joy, things forgotten are awakened. But the dream world, as we all know, can also be a world of deeper power filled with hurt and sadness. I like that Wordsworth focuses on the joy it seems and the image of dreaming-- an eye made quiet puts an image in my mind of entering into a sleep or perhaps it has nothing to do with sleep and dreams but simply seeing your thoughts with your eyes open. By this I mean, you are looking in, not out even while your eyes appear to be looking out.
"Sylvan Wye"-- here there is a connection between spirit and the river through language. I posted a picture above of the River Wye, a river along the border of Wales and England.
"The picture of the mind revives again"- for Wordsworth this simply shows that he has opened his eyes and sees nature (previous lines) , looking back to his thoughts deep in his mind.
"Present Pleasure" (around line 65) followed by: "...in this moment there is life and food For future years". I find this very interesting because he sees the positive to the future whereas Eliot sees descent and "Wistful regret for those who are not yet here to regret" (dry salvages, pt3, line 127).
Wordsworth is "more like a man flying from soemthing that he dreads, than one who sought the thing he loved" (line71) and I think why dowe run when we are given so few moments (eliot) or so few pulses (pater).
I loved Wordsworth's mention of passion as well! He says around line 78 "...haunted me like a passion" while he is speaking of a waterfall, I think of passion in general. And while some may think that nothing good comes of Desperate Housewives, the show...I disagree...I was a bit into this over winter break and remember a quote from one episode... "Passion, it's a force so potent we remember it long after it's gone". I absolutely love this quote and really it's true. Passion is one feeling that can arouse so many emotions at once it is simply enthralling...except passion itself is not so simple. Wordsworth states it brilliantly, passion is "haunting" to the level that it can over take us in a way nothing else does...There are so many things I feel that I could go on with this one word "passion" but it's a lot to take on at this hour...
We have also been discussing poets and their ability to steal from their successors (which we have also been doing in Critical Theory) and I am beginning to think that while Wordsworth did not STEAL from Eliot (though it could be interesting to accuse such a thing) he did borrow (although I am unsure which came first so maybe it's the other way around). Wordsworth writes "That time is past" but unlike Eliot he does not make the connection between past, present and future. Eliot would say, sure that time is past but it is also present, yes it is the end but it is also the beginning and vice versa...Love it!
Wordsworth brings up the sublime towards the end of the poem and I am hoping that perhaps Kari could go through the sublime briefly again as she did in Literary Criticism. I attempted to find a blog from her on it from 300, but couldn't. I will leave it at that and see what comes...
There are so many connections to Eliot that I think for most people are minor but considering I have an obession ( I can't help but laugh) I notice them!!! Wordsworth describes the music of humanity as still and sad, but that music won't last as Eliot tells us...and WE are the music- so in turn, we will not last, but should we be still and sad in our few moments? maybe it would be more fun to be the music of the "thoughtless youth" (wordsworth), is that possible?
What I take from Wordsworth's poem especially near the end is that humanity is closer to nature than we realize, it is "the guardian of my heart, and soul of all my moral being". He himself is with his spirits when he is upon the banks of that river.
When Wordsworth talks about his "former heart" and "former pleasures" is he talking about his past or pointing to the idea of reincarnation? It seems that while both could be possible the first is more appropriate as he seems to be discsussing something that he has put his whole heart and pleasures into but may have lost, therefore speaking of a former life, not in the literal sense.
He too speaks of the mundane life that should not bring us down or "disturb our chearful faith that all which we behold is full of blessings". Circling back to the idea that every moment, even the ordinary is a moment given to us that we should take advantage of.
"Nor wilt thou then forget,
That after many wanderings, many years
Of absence, these steep woods and lofty cliffs,
And this green pastoral landscape, were to me
More dear, both for themselves and for thy sake."
-This passage is so beautiful to me and I can't really describe what I feel everytime I read it. I am taken aback and breathless. Wordsworth, in this passage, captures not only the physical beauty of the landscape but the beauty of his memory and all that still remains there even though it is physically absent. He is reminded of something he once had, but lost...it is something that he may never again have but will always remember. This place has become dear to him for what it offers him in both the present and in memory as if it still existed.
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