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Wordsworth’s Poetry

To understand where “Tintern Abbey” sits in relation to Wordsworth’s other major poems, please consult this guide, which provides an analytical overview.

Coleridge’s Poetry

Aside from his sister Dorothy, Coleridge was Wordsworth’s closest friend and collaborator. In fact, they were so close that the works of each bear the imprint of the other. For instance, critics have identified several lines in Coleridge’s “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” that likely came from Wordsworth’s pen. Thus, a fuller understanding of Wordsworth’s poetry will be enriched by engagement with the work of Coleridge.

Christopher Marlowe, “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love”

Marlowe’s poem, which features a shepherd begging his beloved to join him in his rural livelihood, represents the continuation of a long tradition of pastoral poetry. This tradition began with the Greeks and the Romans, and it emphasized the rural landscape as a restorative retreat from the hustle and bustle of urban life. Though “Tintern Abbey” doesn’t have any shepherds or nymphs, its celebration of the restorative qualities of the natural world places it in the same literary lineage as Marlowe’s pastoral poem.

Mary Oliver, “Wild Geese”

As a poem that spotlights the natural world’s vast grandeur, “Wild Geese” stands in the same tradition of pastoral poetry to which “Tintern Abbey” belongs. Close study of Mary Oliver’s popular poem reveals what of this tradition has transformed and what has remained the same in the two centuries since Wordsworth first penned his lines about the Wye Valley.

Previous section Historical and Literary Context

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