Anna Holt
9 English
Mr. Salsich
May 28th, 2009

Remembrance:
A Reflection On The Past

It is of the utmost (FAST) importance, time. It captures our senses, pulling us into a moment so dear, we forget its presence. For a moment, time is irrelevant, nonexistent, even. One day, far in the future for most, we will gaze back upon these moments in quiet sentiment, remembering our lives in a haze of faded memory. However, there are constants in the world that are able to bring back the past as if it were the present. Something static, an overgrown cathedral perhaps, will remind us of what used to be. We will recognize the people we once were, and we will be introduced to those we have become.

In his poem Tintern Abbey, William Wordsworth remembers a time in which he "[saw] into the life of things." Sitting with his sister at his side, Wordsworth reflects on Tintern Abbey and on the boy he used to be, prancing merrily through Tintern's lovely vines. He looks back upon his younger years with serenity and care, mesmerized by the happiness that was once his. The "sylvan Wye [and the...] sounding cataract" represent a beautiful and carefree ghost of his past. However, as he gazes down onto the Abbey, he "cannot paint/ what then [he] was." His childhood is time passed, the boy he once was lost in a whirl of growth and development. Tintern is his stable reminder of who he once was, his point of reference as he discovers how much has changed since boyhood. He remembers his childhood wanderings to find "that time is past, and all its aching joys are now no more."

I have no doubt that in five years, Pine Point will be my Tintern. I will return here and remember the "dizzy rapture" of my own adolescence, the dull thud of a lacrosse ball as it hits the wall, the sharp crinkling of newly printed handouts, the contented sounds of laughter that dwell in these hallways like an ever present shadow. (Loose Sentence) I will reflect in silence as I walk these pathways, a woman by then. The misplaced memories will return to me, no longer distant. I will be introduced to the person I will have become. My dear Pine Point will force me to take a final look at the person I once was and say farewell to that young girl, recognizing that while the past can be captured in a place that will not change, we are never the same. Like Wordsworth, I will look back with a smile, happily recalling a place I once called home. This school will be my Tintern, my reminder of polo shirts and khaki pants, and my sole representation of who I am today. (Parallelism "my")

This evening, as is true with every evening, the sun will set. We will go to sleep, and we will awake with new ideas and fresh perspectives. Tomorrow when we rise, we will be altered slightly. Our days will consume us, and we will allow ourselves to forget that time exists at all. However one day, we will awake to find that our alterations are no longer slight. We will dig into our souls and see every part of the people we have become, and, with a reminiscent tear one sweet smile, wave a bittersweet goodbye to what once was. Tomorrow, I know, is another day.