Wordsworth's Tintern Abbey

by Pauline Teoh

To research the publication history of Tintern Abbey, it is necessary to discuss the publication of Lyrical Ballads, a compilation of experimental poems by Coleridge and Wordsworth first published anonymously in 1798 in Bristol by Biggs and Cottle. It was in 1797 that the idea to publish a volume of poems came to being. Coleridge had already written part of Ancient Mariner and it was suggested to Wordsworth that he include some of his poems with it to complete the volume (Owen). The idea for the volume of poems was to revolutionize poetry such as it was at that time-to celebrate the ordinary man and his world. This would later usher in the Romantic style where life and nature dominate as themes. Tintern Abbey had yet to be written but Wordsworth took the famous walk with his sister in July 1798, got inspired, and rushed the poem to be included in Lyrical Ballads. It must be noted here that Wordsworth was also going through some financial problems and had written his poems for sale. (Gil).

The entire of volume of poems was presented to Joseph Cottle, a Bristol publisher, who liked it and offered thirty guineas to Wordsworth. It was to be titled "Lyrical Ballads, with other Poems." The volume would bear the imprint: 'Bristol: Printed by Biggs and Cottle, For T. N. Longman, Paternoster-row, London' However, Cottle must have had a change of heart, for after printing 500 copies, he gave the edition to J. & A Arch who published the poems on October 4, 1798. It is not known why Cottle changed his mind about publishing the poems, although there has been speculation that perhaps Robert Southey, fellow poet, discouraged Cottle from publishing the poems because he was critical of the poems and felt that Cottle would lose money (Owen). Ironically, nobody today can name a poem by Southey, while both Coleridge and Wordsworth are remembered. Nevertheless, because of this change in publishers, there are several variations of Lyrical Ballads today: some earlier volumes (September) would bear the Biggs imprint, while others (October) would have the J. & A. Arch imprint. Some would have just the Advertisement while others had both the Preface and Advertisement.

Lyrical Ballads went through four above revisions: the first edition was anonymous and included a Coleridge poem-Lewti-that was later taken out. In the 1798-second edition, Wordsworth wrote the Advertisement (1798) and in subsequent editions, he wrote the Preface and an Appendix. All four editions concluded with Tintern Abbey. In 1800, Wordsworth added a note to the poem, stating that he would not call Tintern Abbey an ode, but that "it was written with the hope that in the transitions, and the impassioned music of the versification would be found the principle requisites of that species of composition." (Owen)

The genesis for Tintern Abbey is just as involved. The poem was composed and added at the last moment in July 1798 and distributed in September together with the other poems for Lyrical Ballads in the same year. In 1793, Wordsworth was deeply influenced by the French Revolution and was dejected when France and England went to war (LBBP). While going for one of his many walks, he came across Tintern Abbey and felt an "aspect more sublime; that blessed mood" which restored his faith for the Revolution and mankind. However, five years later, disillusioned once more with France, he would take the same walk with his beloved sister, Dorothy. Seeing her joy at the surrounding beauty, he was inspired to write the poem, learning "To look on nature, not as in the hour / Of thoughtless youth, but hearing oftentimes / The still sad music of humanity." It is a testament to Wordsworth's genius that he is able to pen such a personal and profound poem in one sitting. George P. Landow, Professor of English at Brown University writes:

Wordsworth immerses us in the natural sublime, taking us out of the role of spectator, making us sympathetic participants, in the passage where the Solitary stirs the feelings of the narrator by recalling the ecstatic joys of wandering amid the tumult of mountain cataracts.

Of all the poems in Lyrical Ballads, Tintern Abbey is the most serene and pastoral. While the rest of the poems in Lyrical Ballads are either supernatural or dialogues (or both), Tintern Abbey is a monologue, a visualization on the past, present and future (Treadwell). As the final poem of Lyrical Ballads, it soothes the reader's spirit with its meditative quality.

However, the critics and the reading public were not so kind at first. The poem was very different from what people were used to and some critics felt that Wordsworth was not speaking the common man's language, rather, he was patronizing and oblivious to the plight of the homeless (Treadwell). He was a city man after all, what would he know of the poor countryman? As he speaks of "These pastoral farms / Green to the very door", there are the poor vagrants and the semi-industrial area around Tintern Abbey that are ignored. Critics also speculated on the spot that Wordsworth was supposed to have written the poem. Some say that perhaps it is not above the river Wye, but below it, where the industrial wasteland lies (Gil). If so, the serene mood in the poem is deceptive, and readers do not like to be deceived.

Today, Tintern Abbey is considered one of Wordsworth's best poems. It is the perfect poem to be used in the hypertext format, as readers would be able to navigate through the poem's history and significance and perhaps find that "sense sublime".

Bibliography

Gill, Stephen. William Wordsworth: A Life. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1989

Landow, George P. Professor of English and Art History, Brown University. Lyrical Ballads Bicentenary Project. Eds. Ronald Tetreault and Bruce Graver. 19 January 1999. Dalhousie University Electronic Text Centre. [13 Feb. 2000] <http://www.dal.ca/etc/lballads/welcome.html>.

Owen, W. J. B. Wordsworth & Coleridge: Lyrical Ballads. Oxford: OUP, 1969

Treadwell, James. "Innovation and Strangeness; or, Dialogue and Monologue in the 1798". Lyrical Ballads. Romancing on the Net. February 1998 [13 Feb. 2000] <http://users.ox.ac.uk/~scat0385/innovationLB.html>