Friday, June 29, 2012

Poetry Friday: Tintern Abbey


As we sat on the porch of the cabin, looking out over the woods, my husband said, "This reminds me of Tintern Abbey." He read the poem aloud to us. From now on whenever I hear or read it, I'll think of our friend P. killing bugs in a kind of rhythmic counterpoint.

Here's the whole thing. Some excerpts:

LINES WRITTEN A FEW MILES ABOVE TINTERN ABBEY
William Wordsworth

...

Though absent long,
These forms of beauty 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 may have had no trivial influence
On that best portion of a good man's life;
His little, nameless, unremembered acts
Of kindness and of love.

...

And now, with gleams of half-extinguish'd 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.

...



Our vacation provided much "life and food for future years." I wish you the same, this summer.

Here's today's Poetry Friday roundup.

6 comments:

Marjorie said...

Yes, Wordsworth is wonderful - how lovely to be able to pick up this poem during your holiday. I hope the rest of your summer provides such "life and food".

Linda B said...

Thank you Ruth. I too was caught by those words toward the end "with pleasing thoughts/That in this moment there is life and food/For future years." Beauty in the words for sure, & in your photograph.

Julie said...

Glad to see people still loving this gorgeous old poem. I always think of this line when I go out for a walk at night: "Therefore let the moon / Shine on thee in thy solitary walk..."

violet said...

Thanks for reminding me of this classic. These never grow old, do they?

jama said...

How I loved Wordsworth in college! Used to recite this poem and his Ode to Intimations all the time, and when I finally got to visit England, made it a point to see Dove Cottage and the Lake District.

Love that you enjoyed this poem on your vacation.

Monique said...

Lovely! Am planning to revisit Tintern this summer - will add poem recitation and bug thwomping to that day's activity.