Historical Travel

Searching for the Abbey

By Susan February 5, 2025

Searching for the Abbey

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While with an eye made quiet by the power
Of harmony, and the deep power of joy,
We see into the life of things.. -William Wordsworth

From: Lines Composed a Few Miles
above Tintern Abbey, On Revisiting
the Banks of the Wye during a Tour.
July 13 1798

After my 2006 tutorial at Oxford, (18th-century Literature and the Arts*) I was determined to make a pilgrimage to Tintern Abbey. I wanted to sense Wordsworth’s (159-line) poem. It spoke to me.

Still does.

I set out with a colleague from Oxford, scraping hedgerows along the way. Poor Trish!

I vividly remember winding around and around for what seemed liked miles and miles. And then . . . there it was.

We wandered the Abbey and its grounds for quite some time. before returning to our lodging. (Wish I’d bought a postcard, or something.)

a toast to Tintern

a toast to Tintern

How oft in darkness and amid the many shapes of joyless daylight; How oft, in spirit, have I turned to thee.

If solitude, or fear, or pain, or grief,
Should be thy portion, with what healing thoughts
Of tender joy wilt thou remember me,

William Wordsworth 1770-1850

*Tutorial: Dr. Peter McCullough, Lincoln College, Oxford University

Last updated on February 5, 2025

In 2006, researching for my last literature paper at Oxford, I stumbled onto the late 17th-century court of Queen Mary of Modena, consort to James II. I was intrigued because she had so many female writers in her court—rare for the 17th century. Before heading back to the states, I met with my professor, Peter McCullough, to discuss a book idea stemming from that research. Peter had stunned me with his compliment of my paper—“One of the most beautiful Bread Loaf papers I’ve read . . . The work of an artist by an artist.” He was encouraging about my book idea and later agreed to be one of my Beta readers. Rain Dodging follows my quest for a sense of Mary’s spaces, to breathe the same air, to imagine their lives, visiting palaces and manor houses in England and Scotland and exploring their sublime back roads. Rain Dodging is a kaleidoscope of memoir and mystery, a collage of images and events. As I travel through Britain, I take you on a journey through my life and into a 17th-century royal court. You'll watch the connections unfold, from tales of a troubled childhood to wild days of college and young adulthood, the music scenes in Los Angeles & Nashville, and to my growth as mother, teacher, writer, lover, and solo traveler.