Wordsworth's religion

Hello,

I am studying the poem "Tintern Abbey" of Wordsworth I don't understand the last passage. I think it has a link with the poet's religion... If somebody can explain me the meaning. Thank you.
Here is the passage

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; well pleased to recognize
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.

I think that makes him sound Christian and he's talking about God protecting him

Quote:

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Originally Posted by chinoma

Hello,

I am studying the poem "Tintern Abbey" of Wordsworth I don't understand the last passage. I think it has a link with the poet's religion... If somebody can explain me the meaning. Thank you.
Here is the passage

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; well pleased to recognize
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 author is cleverly walking a thin line between religion and non-religious he does not give a clear-cut picture.which gives the reader a choice to choose.in other words religion is in the eye of the reader.:angel:

I think you will find that Wordsworth was a pantheist. That might go a long way in helping you to understand his meaning in those words.

Now go and study! :)

I have heard that when a woman wrote to Wordsworth questioning him about pantheism, he denied it. However, I don't have the reference and the letter was being quoted by a Christian author.

Wordsworth's "Ecclesiastical Sonnets" portray orthodoxy, but perhaps their very inferiority to his more "Romantic" works could lead to the question if they were as much the outflow of spontaneous feeling as the more pantheistically-leaning works.

As is apparent, I don't have much information on the subject, but it's one of great interest to me

I've always thought of Wordsworth as a deist.

Stick with Panthiest and you won't go far wrong. He didn't start off as one but when he wrote Tintern Abbey he most certainly was. When you read those words from the poem with that in mind it is pretty self-explanatory.

No! Go with deist!

Wordsworth religion battle ftw.

Yes... Go and see if you can find a Literary text book that mentiones Wordsworth and Deist - a book that rare will be worth a lot of money! If you want a good mark for your work remember your tutor will almost certainly be looking for Panthiest. :brickwall



Wordsworth religion battle ftw

I don't think it has anything to do with religion. Wordsworth was a Romantic poet and most of his poems revolve around nature. so does Tintern abbey. in this poems he recounts his earlier visit to Tintern Abbey and how things have changed since then. in this poem he says that nature has been his friend, has nursed him from pains, has helped him to grow and has taught him precious lessons. so he is thankful to nature that never did leave him in his time of tribulations.