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Comparing Tintern Abbey and I wandered lonely as a cloud

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An Analysis of Tintern Abbey and I wandered lonely as a cloud

As in “Tintern Abbey”, “I wandered lonely as a cloud” portrays William’s mind working as a mirror by reflecting what comes to it. They are both experiential poems and contain glimpses of recollections from the inner mind. In both poems he speaks of the exquisite effect in which the outside world has upon him. He concludes “Tintern Abbey” with, “And this green pastoral landscape, were to me More dear, both for themselves and for thy sake!” This ending is comparable to the ending of “I wandered lonely as a cloud” by reason of the newly found delighted enlightenment both outings seemed to have created within Wordsworth.

In 1802 on April 15th, Dorothy Wordworth …show more content…

William and Dorothy both have similar portrayals of the daffodils they encountered on their walk. The flowers seem to be the reason the after-dinner walk left such a lasting impression on both authors. Dorothy begins her journal entry by painting a dreary picture of the weather on that stormy evening of their excursion. Similarly, in the first lines of his poem, William uses the simile of being a cloud which pertains to the gloomy weather Dorothy speaks of in her journal. Just as a cloud, “floats on high over vales and hills,” the Wordsworth’s gradually pass through landscape and come to a stretch of land along the shore where according to Dorothy, plentiful amounts of daffodils, “tossed and reeled and danced and seemed as if they verily laughed with the wind that blew upon them over the lake.” William condenses Dorothy’s detailed description yet uses similar metaphors. He writes of the flowers “fluttering and dancing in the breeze,” and thought of them to be “tossing their heads in sprightly dance.” Dorothy explains, “some rested their heads upon...stones...they looked so gay ever glancing and ever changing.”

Although the siblings have similar reflections of the flowers which entranced them both, their interpretations of their walk are not entirely alike. Dorothy simply tells of that particular days occurrences while

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