Tintern Abbey by Wordsworth: summary and analysis (with text lines)
“Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey” is one of William Wordsworth’s most famous and personal poems. He wrote it in 1798, and it was published in the book Lyrical Ballads, which helped start the Romantic movement in English literature. The poem is set near the River Wye in Wales, a peaceful and beautiful place that Wordsworth visited again after five years. In the poem, he shares his thoughts and feelings about nature, remembering how it helped him through difficult times and made him feel calm and happy. He also speaks to his sister Dorothy, hoping she will feel the same love for nature. The poem shows how nature can teach us, comfort us, and help us grow as people. It mixes beautiful descriptions of the landscape with deep thoughts about life, making it a powerful and emotional piece of writing.
Full Title:
Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey, on Revisiting the Banks of the Wye during a Tour, July 13, 1798
TEXT AND SUMMARY:
Lines 1–8:
Five years have past; five summers, with the length
Of five long winters! and again I hear
These waters, rolling from their mountain-springs
With a sweet inland murmur. — Once again
Do I behold these steep and lofty cliffs,
Which on a wild secluded scene impress
Thoughts of more deep seclusion; and connect
The landscape with the quiet of the sky.
Summary:
Wordsworth returns to Tintern Abbey after five years and expresses joy at seeing the natural scenery again. He hears the river Wye's soothing sound and sees the tall cliffs that evoke feelings of peace and solitude.
Lines 9–24:
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. Once again I see
These hedge-rows, hardly hedge-rows, little lines
Of sportive wood run wild: these pastoral farms,
Green to the very door; and wreaths of smoke
Sent up, in silence, from among the trees!
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.
Summary:
He sits beneath a sycamore tree and describes the scenery—orchards, green fields, scattered woods, and smoke rising silently, hinting at hidden homes or perhaps a hermit’s secluded hut. The landscape looks natural and peaceful.
Lines 25–49:
These beauteous forms,
Through a long absence, have not been to me
As is a landscape 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. Nor less, I trust,
To them I may have owed another gift,
Of aspect more sublime; 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:—
Summary:
Although he has been away, the memory of this natural beauty has stayed with him and brought peace during difficult times. These memories calmed his heart and mind, encouraging acts of kindness. Nature gave him a deep, uplifting spiritual experience that helped him understand and cope with life’s mysteries.
Lines 50–65:
—that serene and blessed mood,
In which the affections gently lead us on,—
Until, the breath of this corporeal frame,
And even the motion of our human blood
Almost suspended, we are laid asleep
In body, and become 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.
Summary:
In this peaceful state, the soul transcends the body and deeply connects with nature. Through harmony and joy, he sees beyond appearances—into the essence of life itself.
Lines 66–88:
If this
Be but a vain belief, yet, oh! how oft—
In darkness and amid the many shapes
Of joyless daylight; when the fretful stir
Unprofitable, and the fever of the world,
Have hung upon the beatings of my heart—
How oft, in spirit, have I turned to thee,
O sylvan Wye! thou wanderer through the woods,
How often has my spirit turned to thee!
Summary:
Even if his belief in nature’s spiritual power is false, it has brought him comfort during life’s struggles. Often, in pain and despair, he has thought of the River Wye and found emotional relief.
Lines 89–111:
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:
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. And so I dare to hope,
Though changed, no doubt, from what I was when first
I came among these hills; when like a roe
I bounded o’er the mountains, by the sides
Of the deep rivers, and the lonely streams,
Wherever nature led: more like a man
Flying from something that he dreads, than one
Who sought the thing he loved.
Summary:
As he reflects now, he feels a mix of dim memories and confusion, but also present joy. He hopes this visit will give him happy memories in the future. He remembers his youthful visits—when he ran through nature like a deer, restless and full of energy, seeking escape more than connection.
Lines 112–133:
For nature then
(The coarser pleasures of my boyish days,
And their glad animal movements all gone by)
To me was all in all.—I cannot paint
What then I was. 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.—That time is past,
And all its aching joys are now no more,
And all its dizzy raptures.
Summary:
In his youth, nature was everything to him—he experienced it passionately and instinctively, without needing deep thought. But those wild, overwhelming joys are now gone, and so is that stage of his life.
Lines 134–159:
Not for this
Faint I, nor mourn nor murmur; other gifts
Have followed, for such loss, I would believe,
Abundant recompense. 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. 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:
A motion and a spirit, that impels
All thinking things, all objects of all thought,
And rolls through all things.
Summary:
He doesn’t mourn the loss of youthful excitement. In exchange, he has gained a deeper appreciation for nature. He now sees nature as connected to human life and spirituality—something divine that flows through all existence.
Lines 160–177:
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 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.
Summary:
Because of this deep connection, he continues to love nature. He sees it as the anchor and guide for his thoughts and morals—his emotional and spiritual foundation.
Lines 178–202 (Addressing his Sister Dorothy):
Nor perchance,
If I were not thus taught, should I the more
Suffer my genial spirits to decay:
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! and this prayer I make,
Knowing that Nature never did betray
The heart that loved her; ’tis her privilege,
Through all the years of this our life, to lead
From joy to joy: for she can so inform
The mind that is within us, so impress
With quietness and beauty, and so feed
With lofty thoughts, that neither evil tongues,
Rash judgments, nor the sneers of selfish men,
Nor greetings where no kindness is, nor all
The dreary intercourse of daily life,
Shall e’er prevail against us, or disturb
Our cheerful faith, that all which we behold
Is full of blessings.
Summary:
He turns to his sister, Dorothy, and sees his younger self in her joy. He prays that nature will always comfort and inspire her, as it has done for him. He believes nature will protect them from life's negativity and help them stay spiritually strong.
Lines 203–209 (Final Prayer):
Therefore let the moon
Shine on thee in thy solitary walk;
And let the misty mountain-winds be free
To blow against thee: and, in after years,
When these wild ecstasies shall be matured
Into a sober pleasure; when thy mind
Shall be a mansion for all lovely forms,
Thy memory be as a dwelling-place
For all sweet sounds and harmonies; oh! then,
If solitude, or fear, or pain, or grief,
Should be thy portion, with what healing thoughts
Of tender joy wilt thou remember me,
And these my exhortations!
Summary:
He wishes nature’s beauty—moonlight, wind, mountains—to bless his sister always. When she grows older, he hopes the memories of this day and his words will comfort her in times of sorrow or loneliness.
Closing Lines:
Nor, perchance—
If I should be where I no more can hear
Thy voice, nor catch from thy wild eyes these gleams
Of past existence—wilt thou then forget
That on the banks of this delightful stream
We stood together; and that I, so long
A worshipper of Nature, hither came
Unwearied in that service: rather say
With warmer love—oh! with far deeper zeal
Of holier love. 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!
Summary:
If he dies before her, he hopes she will remember this day and how deeply he loved nature—and her. The landscape will remain special to her not only for its beauty but because of the love they shared in that moment.
Short Analysis
Wordsworth’s Tintern Abbey is a reflective and emotional poem that explores the deep connection between nature and the human mind. Through his return to a beloved landscape after five years, the poet expresses how nature brings peace, inspiration, and spiritual strength. The poem shows how his understanding of nature has matured—from youthful excitement to thoughtful appreciation. He believes nature shapes our morals and soothes our pain. By addressing his sister, Dorothy, Wordsworth also emphasizes the idea of sharing this spiritual bond with others. The poem beautifully captures key Romantic themes such as memory, emotion, nature’s power, and personal growth.