Traveling with a Literary Focus

“—That time has past,
And all its aching joys are now no more,
And all its dizzy raptures. Not for this
Faint I, nor mourn nor murmur; other gifts
Have followed; for such loss, I would believe,
Abundant recompense. For I have learned
To look on nature, not as in the hour
Of thoughtless youth; but hearing oftentimes
The still, sad music of humanity . . .”

(Lines Composed A Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey ln. 83-91)

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My passion for literature extends beyond the bindings of books. For me, literature is the creative expression of thought and the culmination of experience, and just as literature should be debated and discussed, it should also be lived. Although we can’t go back in time, we can often bring our experience into closer alignment with the original work.For instance, one can go to a Shakespeare play, or one can go to a Shakespeare play in the Globe Theatre in London, standing in the pit during a production of King Lear. I had the opportunity to do just that when I was an undergraduate student. By participating in a six week study abroad program, I was not only able to live among the locals and gain a new perspective of our global community; I was able to spend my weekends exploring a country rich with literary history.

Along with excursions to Stonehenge, Salisbury, and the medieval town of Lavenham, I had the opportunity to explore Westminster Abbey, the Cathedral in Canterbury, and the white cliffs of Dover.

One weekend, I even laced up my hiking boots and headed to Wye Valley, home to Wordsworth’s famous Tintern Abbey. After spending the night in a local castle (conveniently converted into a hostel), three friends and I set out for the Abbey at the opposite end of the valley. The hike took all day, with a stop for a plowman’s lunch at a local pub.

Of course, the hike itself was not planned. Let’s just say we found transportation in Wales a little less ‘consistent’ then it was in London, and being impatient young folk, we started to walk. It was a rather serendipitous decision, however. What better way to become acquainted with the natural theater that surrounds Tintern Abbey? We would have missed so much arriving by bus or taxi.

I imagined, as we walked, the journey of Wordsworth through the same countryside. The slower pace allowed time for contemplation, creating an experience that was poetic in its own right. As Wordsworth says, “poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings . . . emotion recollected in tranquility.”

Thanks to that summer in England, Tintern Abbey is not just a Romantic poem, but a place that lives in my own memories.