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ENG 290
Dr. Boren
16, Feb 2011
Michael Wadkins

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:

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 utilizes specific language in his poem Lines Written A Few Miles
Above Tintern Abbey to communicate a deeper sense of what the human soul is. In the above
section, the word corporeal is used because it is the exact opposite of soul in meaning. The
Oxford English Dictionary defines corporeal as Of the nature of the animal body as opposed
to the spirit; physical; bodily; mortal. Wordsworth chooses this word in strategy to build on the
idea of night and day, black and white, hot and cold, etc. What better way to approach the
arduous task of defining soul than to give the reader a word that invokes the opposing extreme in
their minds. The function of corporeal in the first line is to describe the word frame. In the
context of the poem, frame means shell or outer vessel. The combination of corporeal frame
can be translated as animalistic shell. In this way, Wordsworth has given the reader the
beginnings of a definition by simply defining what is in the realm of the known and describing it
in its lowly place. Therefore, if the human body is animalistic then the reader can easily imagine
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next that the soul is higher in status.
In the first few lines, Wordsworth uses the words breath and motion of our human
blood to describe soul more concretely. He goes on to say that when these two are Almost
suspended, we are laid asleep / In body, and become a living soul. The concept of life and
death meet here and the transition, he suggests, is theres no such thing as death, only the
realization of the soul after it leaves the human vessel. Wordsworth makes mention of the third
eye in the next line: While with an eye made quiet by the power. The choice of using the
word an indicates he is speaking of one eye instead of two, hence, the third eye or the soul.
Through this one eye, the speaker sees the universe as a whole, in its entirety, and knows all
things which are the power that quiets his perception. There is a sense of God or a collective
consciousness in the idea of his third eye being made quiet by the power. The opposite of
infinite knowledge seen through one eye is limited knowledge seen through two eyes. The
suggestion of viewing the world through one eye instead of two again illustrates extreme
opposites. The recurring theme of yin and yang is a deliberation of the author who is conveying
eastern philosophies into the poem through the usage of subtleties. For example, Wordsworth
writes: an eye instead of writing the third eye. This is a subtle tactic, mixing eastern
philosophies with western theologies.
Wordsworth expounds on this power in the next two lines: Of harmony, and the deep
power of joy, / We see into the life of things. The choice of the word harmony suggests
balance, which, again, is representative of the eastern philosophy of yin and yang. The definition
given by the OED states: Combination of parts or details in accord with each other, so as to
produce an sthetically pleasing effect; agreeable aspect arising from apt arrangement of parts.
The word accord expressed in this definition is important in that the power the speaker is
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experiencing is oneness. Wordsworth furthers this notion of oneness by explaining it as the
deep power of joy. This concept of joy invokes emotions of safety and trust rather than fear of
the unknown, especially such a concept that everything is one. The usage of the word joy is a
counterbalance for western minds grasping eastern concepts. Ultimately, following our grand
awakening, we shall see into the life of things. Wordsworth is not speaking of life as we know
it here on earth, seeing out of two eyes. Rather, he is speaking of the life we will see after we
have become one with the universe.
And I have felt

A presence that disturbs me with the joy

Of elevated thoughts; a sense sublime

Of something far more deeply interfused,

Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns,

And the round ocean, and the living air,

And the blue sky, and in the mind of man, 100
A motion and a spirit, that impels

All thinking things, all objects of all thought,

And rolls through all things. Therefore am I still

A lover of the meadows and the woods,

And mountains; and of all that we behold

From this green earth; of all the mighty world

Of eye and ear, both what they half-create,

And what perceive; well pleased to recognize

In nature and the language of the sense,

The anchor of my purest thoughts, the nurse, 110
The guide, the guardian of my heart, and soul

Of all my moral being.


Wordsworth goes on to describe nature as God. A presence that disturbs me with the
joy / Of elevated thoughts; a sense sublime suggests that this presence is of the same power
of joy spoken of earlier in the poem. This presence that disturbs him with joy is the same
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one that reveals the oneness of the universe. Mother Nature is her unspoken name and her
dwelling is the light of setting suns, / And the round ocean, and the living air, / And the
blue sky, and in the mind of man, / A motion and a spirit, that impels / All thinking things,
all objects of all thought, / And rolls through all things. The title Mother Nature is never
given to her specifically; rather Wordsworth introduces her subtly as to not upset the western
mind. Subtleness of eastern themes is recurring in Wordsworths poem because he is
interfusing these concepts with western ideas to make them more understandable. The line:
Of something far more deeply interfused suggests that we are all one with Mother Nature and
she is one with us. Her presence disturbs the speaker with the joyof elevated thoughts.
The inclination of elevated thoughts suggests the idea of a higher self, which is what the entire
poem is about. Wordsworth uses the word disturbs to describe the consciousness of the third
eye or direct connection with Mother Nature because such is foreign to the mortal man. For the
speaker, this awakening is both awe inspiring and intimidating at the same time.
The speaker is confessing his love affair with Mother Nature, as he is a nature
worshipper. In the last section he explains: Therefore am I still / A lover of the meadows and
the woods, / And mountains; and of all that we behold / From this green earth; of all the
mighty world. In the eye and ear of the speaker, God is not the Biblical version, but rather a
spirit that encompasses all. It is understood that the being is her rather than he because of the use
of the word nurse to describe her actions. The overarching theme of the poem is to invoke a
consciousness of the third eye and possibly instill the same love affair he experiences with nature
in the reader. Wordsworth describes his lover in detail: The anchor of my purest thoughts, the
nurse / The guide, the guardian of my heart, and soul / Of all my mortal being. These
descriptions clearly show the speakers love affair with Mother Nature. This love affair is similar
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to the love affair Christians experience with the deity of Jesus Christ. Wordsworth writes his
poem in such a way to parallel Mother Nature with the Biblical God so that readers will be more
open and able to comprehend these foreign concepts of oneness. His love for Mother Nature is
just as strong and real as those Christians who follow the doctrine of Christ. Wordsworths
intentions with this poem are an awakening of the universal mind in all men and women.
Nor, perchance,

If I should be, where I no more can hear

Thy voice, nor catch from thy wild eyes these gleams

Of past existence, wilt thou then forget 150
That on the banks of this delightful stream

We stood together; and that I, so long

A worshipper of Nature, hither came,

Unwearied in that service: rather say

With warmer love, oh! with far deeper zeal

Of holier love. Nor wilt thou then forget,

That after many wanderings, many years

Of absence, these steep woods and lofty cliffs,

And this green pastoral landscape, were to me

More dear, both for themselves and for thy sake.


In the very last section of the poem, Wordsworth reveals that he is A worshipper of
Nature to the reader. In the capitalization of the word Nature we understand that he sees her
as a deity. The poem hints at this conception the entire time, but it is not until the very end that
he gives credit to her title. Wordsworth speaks of his sister in this passage likewise. The
speakers relationship with his sister was one of tremendous love. He has come to this spot on
the river where they once stood together for both the memory of her when she was living and to
find calm and peace in the steep woods and lofty cliffs, / And this green pastoral landscape.
The speaker parallels his love for his sister with his love for Nature as a deity and we understand
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that he has found peace in her death through Nature. This is profound in the sense that he has
found the same solitude worshippers of Jesus find in Him in the deity of Nature.