On Wordsworth¡¯s Feeling of Pleasure in ¡°Tintern Abbey¡±

Tintern Abbey is one of the outstanding poems in Lyrical Ballads, in which Wordsworth describes the beauty of nature, meditates upon the influence of natural surroundings on the formation of his mind and expresses his deep love for nature and for his sister Dorothy. Wordsworth develops the poem as an extended lyric meditation on memory, guiding the reader through a series of emotional states, for instance, the feeling of pleasure.
Wordsworth first describes the scene as unchanged during the past five years and then shifts his attention from present scene to his memories. Saying ¡°And passing even into my purer mind, with tranquil restoration-feelings too of unremembered pleasure¡±, Wordsworth expresses the pleasure of these memories that have comforted and consoled him in the intervening years spent in less beautiful, more urban settings. The...