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