Recollection and Reconnection

 

“Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey, On Revisiting the Banks of the Wye during a Tour. July 13, 1798” by William Wordsworth was my favorite piece we have read so far. Recollection and reconnection are central themes in this poem. Wordsworth reflects on a place he once knew while also acknowledging the connection he still feels to it, even though it has changed. Through revisiting this place from his childhood, he experiences happiness, nostalgia, and peace, but at the same time there is also a sense of loss. As I read this, I found myself thinking about how it is possible to return somewhere familiar and still feel that something is different or missing.

He uses animal-like imagery and personification to represent his younger self, showing vitality, freedom, and the purity of being a child. In contrast, his present self is more reflective and searching for something deeper, whether that be purpose, love, or meaning. As the poem continues, we learn that he is talking to his sister and brought her to this place he cherishes. He wants to see it through her eyes, and through her perspective he is able to reconnect with his own past feelings. This made me realize how other people can shape the way we experience places, especially ones that already hold meaning to us. In this way, his walking becomes more than just movement, it becomes a way of reaching a kind of emotional and almost spiritual understanding.

In our class discussion, we were asked to think about a place we used to go to as a child and how it feels to revisit it now. I immediately thought of my mom’s hometown in the province of the Philippines. It was a beautiful, quiet place away from the city, with coconut trees and wildflowers lining the streets. There was only one grocery store, one school, and one restaurant, but to me, it felt complete. I remember walking everywhere under the sun, since walking was the main way to get around in the small town of Tuburan.

When I recently had the chance to return, it felt completely different. The small town I had known had modernized. The wildflowers and coconut trees had been replaced with small businesses, and the town had grown so much that it was no longer small enough to walk across before sundown. At first, this change felt strange to me, almost like the place I remembered no longer existed in the same way. However, even though it had changed, I was still able to reconnect with the same feelings of freedom and happiness that I had as a child. In a way, like Wordsworth, revisiting this place allowed me to see both what was lost and what still remains, and it made me realize that the connection to a place does not fully disappear even when it changes.