Memory as Salvation in Tintern Abbey - Research Paper Example

11 September Memory as Salvation in “Tintern Abbey” When Wordsworth wrote “Tintern Abbey,” he rebuffed some of Godwin’s philosophical beliefs, where the latter asserts the power of “reason” over emotions (Bloom 35). For Wordsworth, “Tintern Abbey” is a “revelation” of his remembrances and doubts in life, because he believes that nature can arouse emotions that can yield greater understanding of life (Bloom 35). In this poem, he remembers his youth and his sister with tinges of warmth, joy, and reservations. This essay examines memory as a source of salvation in Wordsworths “Tintern Abbey” and his doubts in his own memories. Memory is a source of salvation, because it offers a sanctuary for spiritual reflections that rejuvenates and calms people, but Wordsworth expresses doubt about his own faith in memory, because reality depends on perceptions that change and he feels a sense of loss that cannot be fully relieved; still, he emphasizes the role of faith in developing his inner strength. Memory facilitates salvation, because it allows the narrator to escape the weary modern world and enter a place of reflection and reconnection. Wordsworth admires how Tintern Abbey helps him leave the “weariness” (Wordsworth 28) of “lonely rooms” (Wordsworth 26) of “towns and cities” (Wordsworth 27). The solitude of nature provides the opportunity of “repose” (Wordsworth 9) “under this dark sycamore” (Wordsworth 10). The tree represents the “house” of reflection, where branches protect the narrator from heat and other external distractions. The “unripe fruits” (Wordsworth 12) symbolize the promise of new life that can rejuvenate the narrator’s feelings of restlessness. Sans the dirt and noise of cities, he can live and reflect like a “hermit” (Wordsworth 22). Memory also rejuvenates people, because it helps them reconnect with their past, joyful experiences. Wordsworth easily connects his peaceful emotions with kind human acts: “His little, nameless, unremembered, acts/Of kindness and of love…” (Wordsworth 35-36). When such past acts are remembered, he restores himself to a “blessed mood” (Wordsworth 48). In this mood, he feels elevated from the “burthen of the mystery” (39) and “all [of] this unintelligible world” (41) is “lightened” (Wordsworth 42). The more he is lightened, the more he feels rejuvenated from within. The poem also underscores that this state of renewal acquires a spiritual meaning. Wordsworth asserts that this spiritual rejuvenation starts with “affections” (43), so he is rebuking the ascendancy of logic over the senses. The body “sleeps” from its material concerns and the individual transforms to a “living soul” (47). When the eyes are “quiet,” the soul stirs enough to enable people to “see into the life of things” (Wordsworth 50). This “seeing” allows people to perceive beyond their life’s multitude of darkness and to recognize something deeper, something more meaningful, specifically when considering one’s miseries. The lightness of nature can help wash away life’s “sad perplexity” (Wordsworth 62), since “present pleasure” can produce “pleasing thoughts” (Wordsworth 65). These pleasing thoughts aim to restore balance to an otherwise heavy life. Memory also saves people, because it can calm people enough to face their inner struggles. The “beauteous forms” (Wordsworth 23) of nature kindles purity of the mind. In cities and towns, numerous distractions and material needs compel people to live each day in a rush. Under the shades of trees and in sight of green sceneries, the narrator feels “tranquil restoration” (Wordsworth 31). The narrator feels the serenity of the nature being transferred to his senses and then his mind. From his mind, the sense of peace travels to his soul. Nature has a distinct sense of organization, which evokes harmony, a harmony that incites a “deep power of joy” (Wordsworth 49). This joy replaces the sadness and doubts of the narrator, although temporarily. Even if nature may be regarded as a source of sentimentalism, Wordsworth emphasizes that nature does not rely on affecting emotions alone, because it drives people to realize logical assertions, if only they are only willing to see meaning behind their own troubles. The poem then is also saying that paradoxically, when people are calm, they can have the courage to face their problems more rationally. And when they feel tranquil, they receive the grace of understanding, because they concentrate on their emotions and beliefs and how they impact their behaviors. People can keep on asking why questions that otherwise, they would not even remember asking when they are deeply immersed in the fast pace of urban lifestyle. Nature buys people “calm,” and this calm produces the peace needed to come face-to-face to people’s hidden doubts and fears. The face-off, however hard, can result to joyous understanding of the past. The past becomes less wieldy as people deconstruct its causes; thereby saving themselves from subconscious fears and desires that would have otherwise been left unexplored. Though memory can save his soul, Wordsworth questions his own faith in memory, because of his shifting perceptions of reality. He remembers the environment around Tintern Abbey in a different sense when he was younger. Five years after, “his mature perceptions are less passionate and more thoughtful” (Robinson 3). He notes that he no longer looks at nature from the eyes of “thoughtless youth” but has realized the “still, sad music of humanity” in its midst (Wordsworth 92). These changing perceptions underlie his ability to see the world in “purer” terms. How does he know that his more mature perceptions now can give him greater joy in the long-term and that this joy has more valid basis than before? On the one hand, he says that there is a “presence that disturbs me with the joy” (96). It is the kind of joy that helps “anchor [his] purest thoughts” (Wordsworth 111). On the other hand, he admits that he can still lose ground of what nature and experience have taught him: “If I were not thus taught, should I the more/Suffer my genial spirits to decay” (115-116). While writing the poem, the narrator opens himself to new realizations. He stops detaching nature from his conditions and perceptions. Five years from now, nonetheless, he can have a different set of perceptions and these new perceptions can again influence how he sees and accepts reality. When his own perceptions stand on unstable ground, it is possible that his faith on his memory and his former positive emotions and ideas will waiver. The positive in him will also “decay,” as his perceptions of nature change again the future. The narrator doubts his memories, because he does not completely believe in his ability to recover what he has lost, but he emphasizes the role of faith in developing his inner strength. Barcsák argues that the narrator wants to “handle the problem of the loss that necessarily accompanies the process of growing up: the loss of the direct experience of nature” (86). When Wordsworth suddenly introduces his sister, this can be interpreted as the process of remembering his “former self” (Barcsák 88). The poem says: “May I behold in thee what I was once,/My dear, dear Sister!...” (Wordsworth 123-124). As the narrator evokes his sister’s memory, the tone of the poem changes too, from being “enthusiastic” though “skeptical” tone to a more “elevated, hymnic, and assured” one (Barcsák 88): “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…” (Wordsworth 125-128). When Wordsworth says “knowing,” he refers to being more assured of his access to nature, since he revels in the memory of his sister and the related joyful emotions and experiences he has in his youth. The “knowing,” nevertheless, revolves around faith. The rationality of the human mind cannot compensate for faith: “Our cheerful faith, that all which we behold/Is full of blessings” (Wordsworth 136-137). He has become more assured of his life, because he chooses to rely on faith to strengthen him. Only with faith that he can say with certainty: “Thy memory be as a dwelling-place/For all sweet sounds and harmonies…” (Wordsworth 144-145). If he comes across “solitude, or fear, or pain, or grief” (146) again, he will simply remind himself of the “healing thoughts” (147) of faith by accessing memories through nature. The key is adapting the habit of being “a worshipper of Nature” (Wordsworth 155), because it is nature that can act as a green “pastor” that can calm and rejuvenate the soul. When doubts bubble again, the narrator wishes to remember “…warmer love -- oh! with far deeper zeal/Of holier love” (Wordsworth 157-158), so that he can relieve all his apprehensions in life. “Tintern Abbey” depicts that nature can arouse emotions that can allow people to know more about their past and develop a stronger identity (Bloom 35). In this poem, Wordsworth reminisces his youth and his sister with shades of warmth, joy, and reservations. This essay argues that memory brings about salvation, because it offers a refuge for spiritual reflections that invigorates and calms people, but Wordsworth articulates doubt about his own faith in memory, because reality relies on perceptions that change, and because he feels a sense of loss that cannot be fully relieved. He ends the poem with hope, however, as he emphasizes the role of faith in developing his inner strength. Wordsworth underscores that nature will serve as his green pastor; it will be his teacher of holy love and faith that can help him make sense of his existence. Works Cited Barcsák, János. “The Ending of ‘Tintern Abbey’ and Paul de Mans theory of the performative nature of language.” Anachronist 9 (2003): 85-109. Print. Bloom, Harold. “Thematic Analysis of ‘Tintern Abbey’ and the Lyrical Ballads.” Blooms Major Poets: William Wordsworth, Blooms Major Poets (1999): 35-38. Print. Robinson, Claire. “Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey.” Masterplots II: Poetry, Revised Edition (2002): 1-3. Print. Wordsworth, William. William Wordsworth. 9 Sept. 2011. Web < http://www.blupete.com/Literature/Poetry/WordsworthTinternAbbey.htm>. Read More