Nature Never Did Betray The Heart That Loved Her.
Lines Composed…Above Tintern Abbey, by William Wordsworth
….Nature never did betray
The heart that loved her; tis her privilege,
Through all the years of this our life, to lead
From joy to joy: for she can so inform
The mind that is within us, so impress
With quietness and beauty, and so feed
With lofty thoughts, that neither evil tongues,
Rash judgments, nor the sneers of selfish men,
Nor greetings where no kindness is,
Nor all the dreary intercourse of daily life,
Shall e’er prevail against us, or disturb
Our cheerful faith, that all which we behold
Is full of blessings.
In the midst of work and our busy lives, if we are not careful we lose our sense of joy and wonder in the natural world around us. William Wordsworth, who did a five day inspiring walkabout through Wales in the 1790s, said Nature can lead us “from joy to joy”–and this is the time of year to allow that to happen! Some of us live in areas where we have a few snows remaining. Even so, signs of Spring are beginning to be obvious. I can see a faint, green hue on the seemingly bare branches. In some parts of the country flowers are already in bloom. It is a wonderful time of the year for realizing all which we behold is full of blessings.
I particularly like the lines in this excerpt from Wordsworth’s poem that promises Nature can give us such quietness, beauty and lofty thoughts in our minds and hearts that all the negative situations we encounter will not shake our faith: We can smile and know we are blessed to live in a beautiful world. (Wordsworth uses a wonderful phrase to describe one of the negative things we might encounter: “…greetings where no kindness is.” I would imagine you have had plenty of those greetings in your life!)
Starting today, track the progress of Spring. Watch and listen for all the little aspects of nature that are changing and becoming fresh and new because of the changing Season. I have noticed the birds are louder in the evening than they were a few months ago! Then, share your renewed good feelings by purposely giving people you meet a greeting where kindness is.
I often paraphrase the Apostle Paul, from the New Testament, and say, “Keep the faith!” This week I will change that and paraphrase William Wordsworth by saying, “Keep the cheerful faith!”
Ms.Rowe, your use of Wordsworth is perfect for the moment and your website is one of the most aesthetically attractive I have seen.
Comment by PoetryNMotion | April 6, 2008
Thank you! Those two comments greeted me with kindness! 🙂
Tina
Comment by Tina | April 7, 2008
Tina, Shannon does a good job of this. Right when I’m all caught up in something, she will point out a beautiful eagle flying by or show me a baby owl in the field by our office. It always makes me feel good to look out the window and remember that we are part of a big, beautiful world.
Comment by Judith Thomas | April 7, 2008
Oh, Judith, I’m happy to hear that! Shannon and Casey really have developed a love for “all creatures great and small.” She can spot birds I would have completely missed.
The area of the ProLogis buildings is a wonderful habitat for wild things. And I’m not just talking about Rick Roth!
🙂
Comment by Tina | April 7, 2008
I was going to write about the snow we had this morning and tell you you were wrong about Spring, but I went outside and I’ll be darned if there isn’t a crocus sticking its head up above the snow. I hate it when that happens!
Comment by Wiseacre | April 7, 2008
This was beautiful! I saw this link on your other website. Do you have any more?
Angel Watcher
Comment by Angel Watcher | April 9, 2008
Thank you, AW! To other readers, the website Angel Watcher refers to is a small blog I do for a friend:
http://eatmovesmile. blogspot.com/
Pastor Bulldog has the main site and I add my bit by writing now and then about health, fitness and a positive attitude.
I also contribute to Ask The Workplace Doctors, on
www. workplacedoctors. com
(I spread those words out to avoid webcrawlers picking them up for advertising purposes.)
Thank you Angel Watcher for checking out this site and I hope you’ll visit again. Tina
Comment by Tina | April 9, 2008