The Sublime in Tintern Abbey Essay - 3280 Words

The Sublime in Tintern Abbey Lifting from Longinus, Burke, and Kant -- authors whose works Wordsworth would have read or known, perhaps indirectly, through Coleridge -- I want to look at how our reading of this nuanced term is necessarily problematic and difficult to pin down. Is the sublime a stylistic convention of visual representation? Is it a literary trope? Is it a verbal ruse? Or is the sublime a conceptual category defying, or at least interrogating the validity of verbal representation? Though I look at select passages from Tintern Abbey, reading (or re-reading) the concept into the poem, I take my guided (or misguided) understanding of the sublime as a springboard and template for reading subsequent treatments in†¦show more content†¦How do we untie sublimity from its semantic and epistemological knot? Would doing this favor a different reading of some of these poets? I would begin, then, with Dionysius Longinus, generally considered to be one of the first thinkers to have thought about th is issue in his tract Peri Hypsous, On The Sublime. What he brings to the debate has certainly been the most lasting. We call this the rhetorical sublime. Longinus posits as his principal lesson the idea of elevated style -- not only how one may achieve greatness of expression, but also how one may gain fame by convincing others of ones verbal and oratorical fortitude. Ultimately, his aim is to convince posterity to mimic great works. Under this decree, he lists the following sources of the sublime. First, one must formulate great thoughts or introduce grand concepts (by this he means lasting thoughts and affecting concepts); second, one must inspire, waking others from their intellectual latency by engaging them with their respective passions; the third consists of ones ability to speak figuratively, a stylistic rigor most effective when done inconspicuously, when evading our attention; the fourth source is nobility of diction and phrasing, such as the uses of tropes; and lastly, t he sublime is inherent in the affective arrangement of language, in the tendency to unifying disparate parts into coherent wholes. These are not mutually exclusive.Show MoreRelatedA Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey, By William Wordsworth And On First Looking Into Chapman s Homer1190 Words   |  5 PagesSublime, as the keyword that guides the two major poems, â€Å"Lines Written a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey† by William Wordsworth and â€Å"On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer† by John Keats, has helped both authors to express their genuine feelings. The word â€Å"sublime† is used when you have a great respect and a sense of excellence for something; â€Å"Of such excellence†, the feeling of awesome. The feeling awesome has a root word of â€Å"awe†, which means the feeling of respect for fear or wonder. The word canRead MoreAnalysis Of The Poem Mont Blanc 912 Words   |  4 Pagesinclinations made by William Wordsworth in his poem, â₠¬Å"Tintern Abbey†. 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It was a response to how cold, bitter, and hollow living life based solely on logic was. Among the many artists, novelists, and poets that championed the movement, was a painter by the name of Joseph Mallord William Turner. J.M.W Turner is remembered for works such as The Fall of an Avalanche in the Grisons, Snow Storm-Steam-Boat off a Harbour’s Mouth and Tintern Abbey, whose location was the subject of a poem by William Wordsworth. Tintern Abbey is one example of howRead More Tintern Abbey: Summary Essay1767 Words   |  8 PagesTintern Abbey: Summary William Wordsworth reflects on his return to the River Wye in his poem â€Å"Lines: Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey on Revisiting the Banks of the Wye During a Tour†. Having visited Wye five years prior, he is familiar with how enchanting the place is. He describes the natural wonders of the Wye, which travels past Tintern Abbey, a medieval abbey in the village of Tintern, which is in Monmouthshire, Wales. This Cistercian Abbey was founded by Walter de Clare, Lord ofRead MoreNature And Time By William Wordsworth1197 Words   |  5 PagesColeridge. Thus, to gain a better understanding the Romantic period as a whole, it is useful to focus on the works of William Wordsworth, the period’s flagship writer. To do this, one can conduct a close reading of â€Å"Lines Written a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey† and compare the progression and emphasis of the poem to that of â€Å"Elegiac Stanzas†. In doing so, one can see Wordsworth’s focus on the su blimity of nature and the attributes that are associated with the passage of time. From the very start ofRead MoreWilliam Wordsworth s Tintern Abbey 2027 Words   |  9 PagesRelationship with Nature in ?Tintern Abbey? William Wordsworth was a Romantic poet best known for his works that emphasized his appreciation for nature. His passion for nature strongly influenced his poetry, especially ?Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey.? Using his memories from his previous visit to Tintern Abbey to he expresses his appreciation and awe for nature. At the same time, his goal is to persuade others to feel for nature as he does. In ?Tintern Abbey,? Wordsworth demonstratesRead MoreA Philosophical Enquiry Into The Origin Of Our Ideas Of The Sublime And Beautiful Essay1443 Words   |  6 PagesIn A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful Edmund Burke writes, â€Å"It is the nature of grief to keep its object perpetually in its eye, to present it in its most pleasurable views, to repeat all the circumstances that attend to it†. Burke’s writing attempts to clarify the â€Å"pictorial, literary, cultural, economic and psychological† phenomenon of sublimity, explicating the ways in which power, vastness, obscurity and beauty intersect to form emotional responseRead MoreThe Age Of Manufacturing That Preceded The Romantic Movement1387 Words   |  6 Pagesgeneral freedom of thought, which thus sparked the Romantic Movement. Two poets that romanced nature during this era were: William Wordsworth (1770-1850) and John Keats (1795-1821). â€Å"To Autumn† by John Keats and â€Å"Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey† by William Wordsworth are both comparable and representative of the Romantic Movement. They have separate techniques and application, but are both recognized as significant works of Romanticism. The themes in both poems emphasize nature, emotionRead MoreEnglish IV – Unit 9: Romantic and Victorian Poetry Project: 19th-Century Views Oral Report William700 Words   |  3 PagesVictorian Poetry Project: 19th-Century Views Oral Report William Wordsworth’s poem, â€Å"Composed A Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey, On Revisiting The Banks Of The Wye During A Tour. July 13, 1798† (also known as simply, â€Å"Tintern Abbey†), was included in the book Lyrical Ballads, with a Few Other Poems. This was a joint effort between himself and author Samuel Taylor Coleridge. â€Å"Tintern Abbey† remains one of Wadsworth’s most famous poems, and at its printing, the book was completely sold out in two years