Caroline's

Caroline Burlingham
Mr. H. Salsich
Honors English
May 26, 2009

Remember:
An Essay on the Theme of “Tintern Abbey,” a Poem by William Wordsworth, and my life

We say that we will never forget our first time at life. We say we’ll always remember our first crush, first day at school, first sleepover, and our first time home alone, but that’s not always true (Tetracolon Climax). More often than not, we hold on to these memories for so long that we forget to remember (Antithesis). When you grow up knowing something or some place and then forget it, seeing or hearing that one thing years later makes it more meaningful. I am sure that my reaction and feelings I will have after five years away from Pine Point will be almost identical to those that Wordsworth experienced when he returned to Tintern Abbey and when Wilbur remember where his life began.

In Wordsworth’s poem, “Composed a few Miles Above Tintern Abbey, on Revisiting the Banks of the Wye During a Tour, July 13, 1798,” he not only writes how the church used to make him feel, but how the rediscovery of this sacred place moved him. He seems to feel as if life and time has blinded him from the thing he cared most for, “Through a long absence, have not been to me as is a landscape to a blind man’s eye.” He most likely wanted to remember this place forever and think back to it in times of trouble, but soon enough he had forgotten about the “waters, rolling from their mountain-springs with a soft inland murmur,” and the, “steep and lofty cliffs.” The remembrance of a place so sacred and life-changing must have come back with an epiphany (Fast). Now, after his return, he recalls all the sights, smells, and sounds he once swore never to forget. He remembers the “feelings too of unremembered pleasure: such, perhaps, as have no slight or trivial influence on that best portion of a good man’s life, his little, nameless, unremembered, acts of kindness and of love.” He never truly forgot Tintern Abbey, but the feeling of forgetting brought him back to the place where his live began. Though he broke a self promise and forgot the most important aspects of his early life, he was able to go back in time and make up for is losses.

“The Writer,” a poem written by Richard Wilbur shares these same values and themes. Wilbur remembers a time when a bird was trapped in the house, and though it was, “humped and bloody,” it refused to give up the freedom is deserved. Though it doesn’t seem like much, this bird helped shape his life. One day, he heard his daughter typing on a typewriter, and each click reminded him of the sound the bird made as if fell to the ground. Each pause his daughter made, reminded him of each moment he doubted the birds bravery and courage. He didn’t know it, but this bird taught him about life. It showed him that, “it is always a matter [ ] of life or death, as [he] had forgotten.” When you give up hope, your life is over, but when you are able to fly through that window, despite the pain and suffering, you are free and “clearing the sill of the world.” Though Wilbur did not return to a place where he grew up, he went back to a time that changed his life; a time he had forgotten. In Wilbur’s eyes, the, “iridescent creature” is his Tintern Abbey, his start, and his memory.

When, “five years have past; five summers, with the length of five long winters,” I will return to my school, my home, Pine Point. When I return, like Wordsworth, I will have expectations that may or may not be accurate. When I walk through the front doors, I will look to see if Mr. Salsich is singing or putting on a puppet show, if Ms. Roper is attempting to pull a Greek play together, and if Mrs. Owen is in her room figuring out how to clean the filter on her projector; but this is what I want to see, not what I will see. Like Wordsworth, I want nothing more than to return to my childhood unchanged, but that isn’t up to me. I have been at Pine Point for twelve years, and I can honestly say that it is not the same school it was ten years ago. There isn’t a Big Toy anymore, or a preschool building, or disheveled (Fast) library, but an Eiffel Tower, an ECC building, and a computer lab full of Smart boards and Macs. One lesson I have learned over the past twelve years is to keep moving forward and don’t let anything hold you back, this being said, Pine Point will continue to grow and change. Despite change, I will walk through those doors and remember what used to be, smile, and catch up with my old teachers because that one aspect of Pine Point will never change. It is my home.

I’m sure that I will forget about school, homework, and teachers during the summer, for I want nothing more than to leave the stress behind. On the other hand, I know that I will think of Pine Point, its teachers, and its students more than ever on my first day at Middlesex. Like Wordsworth and Wilbur, it’s the things that shape us into who we are, that we promise to remember, but they are also the things we are most likely to disregard and forget. It isn’t until we find ourselves in need that we bring out these old yet intelligible memories and look back to them for help, which we realize we’ve forgotten. “In after years, when these wild ecstasies shall be matured into a sober pleasure; when thy mind shall be a mansion for all lovely forms, they memory be as a dwelling-place for all sweet sounds and harmonies; oh! then, if solitude, or fear, or pain, or grief, should be thy portion, with what healing thoughts of tender joy wild thou remember me, and these my exhortations!”

Self Assessment:

1) I am continuing to work on careless errors and making sure my sentences are smooth and make sense. I sometimes have a hard time finding these errors until it is too late.

2) I like my use of quotes. I think that I used a good amount but did not overdo it. 

3) I am not sure if I followed our formula correctly. Sometimes I have a good point that takes more than just three sentences to explain.