Natural Piety in William Wordsworth’s “Tintern Abbey”

The notion of natural piety is of vital importance in the poetic landscape of the English romantic poet William Wordsworth. It reflects the poet’s deep gratitude for nature since the very childhood both as a source of inspiration and a moral teacher. This study focuses on the various dimensions of this concept in Wordsworth’s “Tintern Abbey.” Of course, there will be references to other major poems of Wordsworth for the better delineation of this concept. It is argued that Wordsworthian natural piety is not detached from the role of the poet as a social figure, that is, a sharer of human feelings and problems. In “Tintern Abbey,” Wordsworth by drawing upon the various blessings of nature connects both the natural landscape and humankind to the divine. By investing this tringle, readers may have a better understanding of Wordsworthian natural piety, an ethics based on the teachings of nature.

Keywords:

Natural Piety , William Wordsworth , “Tintern Abbey” , Childhood