A Free Mind

The poem Lines Written a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey is written in blank verse, which makes it different from many of the other poems. Here, the authors main focus is to capture the imagery. The environment is most important as a child; this is how one develops the knowledge of an unknown world. Each of us is brought into the unknown, a place each of us can take in and make something of it. Children are able to react in their own way at first sight. At this point, the concept of memory is still not attained, however when a similar instance occurs as an adult, one can go back to what was first seen and is now able to draw upon the logic and direct meaning.
In the beginning of the poem, Wordsworth expresses an important characteristic that belongs to children.
"Five years have past; five summers, with the length
Oh five long winters!"
He is able to use the number five in a metaphorical sense, which means freely and without a cause. The number also correlates with the way Wordsworth is speaking of the scenery. It is uplifting and free flowing. The following excerpt describes what Wordsworth is capturing as well as how it ties into being free.
“I cannot paint
What then I was.. The sounding cataract
Haunted me like a passion: the tall rock,
The mountain, and the deep and gloomy wood,
Their colours and their forms,... For I have learned
To look on nature, not as in the hour
Of thoughtless youth; but hearing oftentimes
The still, sad music of humanity,
Nor harsh nor grating, though of ample power
To chasten and subdue.”
He is now able to react in a more knowledgeable way as to why the scenery is the way it is as well as the way it makes him feel. Wordsworth repeats the vivid imagery of nature. He is emphasizing the impact on development within oneself as well as their surroundings.
Throughout the poem Abbey is perceived to be a spirit living in nature. Abbey can be seen as that spiritual guidance that stays with him in order to sustain that relationship that was once built with nature, rather now he is able to mature and grow. With these new recollections of the past and present, we are able to build more relationships with nature and understand its identity as what is and not what was. Being able to create your own thoughts is what makes us want more out of life and be happy.