Category: Notes on Great Books

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Inside and Out: A reading of Tintern Abbey

  By Notes on Great Books, Wordsworth

I. Seeing Into the Life of Things What does Wordsworth see when he “sees into the life of things?” Recall that in the lines leading up to his portrayal of the “blessed mood” that gives him this sight, Wordsworth has been pointing to the power of human memory and reflection. And the importance of memory and reflection are made plain by the shifting time perspectives in the poem. The poem begins with the speaker on the banks of the Wye for the first time in five years. At first the poet emphasizes the way in which his present experience is similar to that of five years ago. More than once he tells us that “again” he has certain experiences in this secluded spot, a place that is evidently a refuge for him. He then tells how he has thought of “these beauteous forms” at many difficult times since he was… Continue reading

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Benefactors and Builders: A reading of The Lamb and The Tyger

  By Blake

In this piece I would like to summarize the interpretation of The Lamb and The Tyger that I have tried to work through in my IH 52 classes. Since my interpretation—and these remarks—were influenced by Billy Grassie’s interpretation and the commentary on it, all of which is at the main IH web site, you might want to read it first and then return here. The key question in interpreting these two poems is, I think, raised in The Tyger, when the speaker asks “Did he smile his work to see? Did he who made the Lamb make thee?” If we think about why anyone would raise this question, another, prior question comes to the fore. Lambs and tigers are extraordinarily different animals. But are they so different that we would wonder whether God might have made them both? Is there a greater difference between lambs and tigers than, say, between… Continue reading