Tintern Abbey: A Powerful Prelude to Nature

"These beauteous forms, through a long absence, have not been to me. As is a landscape is to a blind man's eye: 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:--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. "
-Lines composed a few miles above Tintern Abbey, on revisiting the banks of the Wye during a tour. July 13, 1798.

After returning to this beautiful setting, Wordsworth reflects that despite "a long absence" the memory remains damp and new to his heart. The memory of the place is imprinted and tattooed into his brain such as is every aspect of life from the imagination or point of remembrance from a blind man. A mind who cannot see can never forget, because images and sensations permanently exist, unchanging.

Even after leaving Tintern abbey for the first time, Wordsworth can still "feel" nature and it's overwhelming, breathtaking effects on the soul, even as he sits alone in 'lonely rooms" or in other dim and dark corners of the world. On grim sidewalks and in the bleak bustle of towns and cities, his heart can still sense the "landscape with the quiet sky," and he can smell the "green hue" that evaded the sycamores and orchard-tufts.

"In hours of weariness," perhaps this touching place in which he so vividly and fondly remembers provides consolation and comfort, and for that he pays a silent tribute to the absent place and its unforgotten imagery. Perhaps it is a tingling sensation or a quiet high that warms the blood and pulsates the beating heart; as received by Wordsworth at the memory or notion of this calming and tranquil location. Nature could be concieved as a blamelss drug, as often one feels slightly "high" when standing at the mouth of a waterfall, or inhaling lungs full of sweet and innocent air, pure and untouched by the poisons of human industry. Perhaps it is a natural endorphine caused by nature, explaining that quick and urgent rush, or the inexplicable "high" and tingly sensation one often feels when outdoors, a feeling invariably leading to a comforting perception of happiness. This drug would undoubtedly leave an imprint on the brain, causing the body and the heart to revel in it's memory.

"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." Here Wordsworth, in savouring those sensations offered from places like Tintern Abbey and all the beauty and passion evoked from nature, and reasons that these effects have a strong and definite influence on the better part of a good man's life. At the end of their years, one will always remember things such as this. The awe one felt at a certain beloved spot of earth, or appreciation for the way such a simplistic and natural part of creation made one feel, will remain with them forever. Nature itself is a "little act of love," so slight at times it lay forgotten. Perhaps subconsciously "little, nameless, unremembered acts of love" that people bestow day after day are due in part to exposure and appreciation for nature and the particular effects it may have. For example, if nature can make a person feel beautiful, free and happy, then the world they percieve on all other levels would mirror this perception. In result, they would unwittingly bestowe little acts of love and kindness throughout their daily lives.