been abandoned. After the cottages, is the vagrant hermit who sits alone in his cave, perhaps symbolizing the effects being away from the abbey has had on Wordsworth. Wordsworth professes to "sensations sweet / Felt in the blood, and felt along the heart" (lines 28-29) which the memories of nature can inspire when he is lonely, just as the hermit is lonely. Wordsworth desires nature only because of his separateness, and the more isolated he feels the more he desires it. This is described in “Lines” : As 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:- 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. (Lines38-47) In the second stanza, Wordsworth parallels his experience upon returning to Tintern Abbey five years later to his previous visit. He has changed from thinking of the present to the past. He describes using the abbey as a consolation whenever he felt overrun by the dismal, uniform, urban landscapes he had become accustomed to. However, after his first visit he began to forget the details of the abbey and what it meant to him: "as gleams of half-extinguished thought, with many recollections dim and faint, and somewhat of a sad perplexity" (Line 57-60) Diamantis 3 In the third stanza, Wordsworth begins a transition back to the present moment. He enjoys the pleasure of this time and also anticipates that he will enjoy it again in future memories. In the fourth stanza, however, he starts to recapitulate his life as a series of stages in the development of a relationship with nature. At first he roamed as freely as an animal, but as he grew he felt joy and rapture and passionate involvement with his own youth. Now he is involved with human concerns. He has...
