Eco-poetic Ethics in Tintern Abbey: Nature as an Eco-ethical Remedy for Modern Alienation

Mafruha Tasnim Parsa; Sabbir Hossain

doi:10.34050/2qxvmk52

Authors

Mafruha Tasnim Parsa Pundra University of Science & Technology, Bangladesh
Sabbir Hossain Student, Pundra University of Science&Technology

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.34050/2qxvmk52

Keywords:

Eco-poetic ethics, Nature, Remedy, Spirituality, Modern alienation

Abstract

Eco-poetic ethics in Wordsworth's works is a reflection of healing of nature in the context of the current industrialization. This paper examines how Wordsworth uses the theme of nature as more than a picturesque backdrop but a moral and spiritual cure to the alienation, and discomfort especially in Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey. It is caused by the contemporary disease of industrialization. The present paper examines the nature-human interaction as vividly portrayed in Wordsworth's poetry. It contends that nature to Wordsworth was an escape against the dehumanizing forces of urbanization, industrialization as well as moral decay. With eco-poetic ethics, the poet proposes that returning to nature helps to heal the emotions and morals of the people and help them get back to their natural sense of innocence, purity, and spirituality. The paper examines significant features of eco-poems such as representation of nature as a teacher, imagination and recall as a means of shaping human resilience. In this respect, the Wordsworth is not only a reflection of the mechanized world, but also of nature as a healing force, able to restore balance to the individual soul, and thereby to the whole society. It shows that the eco-poetic ethics of Wordsworth is relevant in modernist times because of the criticism of environmental degradation and the psychological toll of the modern life.

References

Abbas, H., Ullah, I., & Ullah, W. (2025). Displacement and Urban Alienation: An Ecocritical Reading of the Reluctant Fundamentalist. ACADEMIA International Journal for Social Sciences, 4(1), 677–688. https://doi.org/10.63056/ACAD.004.01.0122

Abiraami, J. (2025). Nature, Spirit and Ecology: Understanding Wordsworth through an Ecocritical Lens. International Journal for Multidisciplinary Research, 7(6). https://www.ijfmr.com/papers/2025/6/59403

Acharya, D. (2025). Nature and Human Relationship in Tintern Abbey. Medha: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 7(2), 151–164. https://doi.org/10.3126/medha.v7i2.76044

Al-Obaydi, L. H., Jawad, Z. A., & Rahman, F. (2022). Class-home connection using communication technology and its impact on anxiety reduction and academic performance. Al-Adab Journal, (141), 53-66.

Arazak, N., Rahayuningsih, R., & Yuskar, B. O. (2026). Spiritual and Self-Reflection through Ecocriticism in Tintern Abbey by William Wordsworth. Applied Research on English Education, 4(1), 10–26. https://doi.org/10.26714/aree.4.1.2026.10-26

Bazregarzadeh, E. (2017). Ecocritical echoes in William Wordsworth’s Tintern Abbey. The Brock Review, 13(1), 71–90. https://doi.org/10.26522/br.v13i1.1092

Bradley, A. C. Oxford Lectures on Poetry. New York: Saint Martin’s P, 1965. Print.

Cook, E. (2021). Literary influences in British Romanticism: The intellectual context. Palgrave Macmillan

Engh, C. (2023). Wordsworth, Ecocriticism, and Natural education. European Romantic Review, 34(6), 673–687. https://doi.org/10.1080/10509585.2023.2272895

Garrard, G. (2004). Ecocriticism. Routledge.

Jordan, J. (2022). The Gothic and the Carnivalesque in American Culture. Palgrave Macmillan.

Junaid, S., & Andini, C. (2025). Symbolism of Victorian society in the anthropomorphism of the Peter Rabbit picture book (1901). ELS Journal on Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities, 8(1), 278-288.

Lanta, J., Rahman, F., Lewa, I., & Akhmar, A. M. (2022). Respect for nature in Indonesian children’s fiction: Ecocriticism perspective. Webology, 19(1), 6010-6021.

Little, D. (2023). Wordsworth’s Webs: Spinning the Ecological Elegy. European Romantic Review, 34(3), 267–278. https://doi.org/10.1080/10509585.2023.2205077

McGann, J. (1985). The romantic ideology: A critical investigation. University of Chicago Press.

McKusick, James C. Green Writing: Romanticism and Ecology. New York: St. Martin’s P, 2000. Print. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780312299514

Musawar, S., Amjid, H., & Maqsood, A. (2025). Nature, Memory, and the Sublime: A Study of Wordsworth’s Philosophical Vision in Tintern Abbey. Journal of Applied Linguistics and TESOL, 8(4), 1506–1511. https://doi.org/10.63878/jalt1634

Naeem, A., Fawad, Y., & Shahzeb, C. (2025). Nature’s Didactic Voice: A Stylistic Analysis of Moral and Spiritual Themes in William Wordsworth’s Poetry. Journal of Applied Linguistics and TESOL, 8(2), 2126–2137. https://doi.org/10.63878/jalt835

Nahdhiyah, Rahman, F., Abas, H., & Pattu, M. A. (2023). Ecocritical study on relationships between humans, nature, and god in the novel the Alchemist. Cogent Arts & Humanities, 10(1), 2170019.

Newlyn, L. (Ed.). (2020). The Cambridge Companion to Coleridge. Cambridge University Press.

Okon, E. O., Omang, T. A., Offem, O. O., Orji, E. I., & Anabaraonye, B. (2025). Eco-Poetry: A Valuable Tool for Enhancing Eco-Tourism for Climate Resilience in Nigeria. Academic Research Journal of Science and Technology (ARJST), 1(10), 149–161. https://doi.org/10.63300/

Özbilen, D. K. (2026). Wordsworth’s Poetic Environmentalism: Tintern Abbey, The Prelude, and the Deep Ecology Perspective. New Era International Journal of Interdisciplinary Social Researches, 11(33), 139–150. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19800416

Pratiwi, N. I., Sosrohadi, S., Rahman, F., Dalyan, M., & Andini, C. (2026). The use of code-mixing by edu-influencers in social media: A communication strategy in sociolinguistic perspective. International Journal of Research and Innovation in Applied Science, 11(1), 1034-1042.

Ting, W. (2024). Reinterpretation of Wordsworth's Tintern Abbey from the Perspective of Ecological Consciousness. Academic Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences, 7(1), 103–109. https://doi.org/10.25236/AJHSS.2024.070116

Ullah, W., Imran, M., & Rahman, R. (2026). Nature and Ecological Consciousness in Wordsworth’s Poetry: An Ecolinguistic Analysis. Review Journal of Social Psychology & Social Works, 4(1), 236–252. https://doi.org/10.71145/rjsp.v4i1.526

Wei, B. (2011). On the Ecological Thought Embedded in Wordsworth’s Poetry. Social Sciences (New Theory Edition), (3), 330–331.

Wordsworth, W. (1798). Lines Written A Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey, on Revisiting the Banks of the Wye During A Tour, July 13, 1798. In Lyrical Ballads, with A Few Other Poems (Pp. 201–210). J. & A. Arch. Literature in Context: An Open Anthology. http://anthology.lib.virginia.edu/work/Wordsworth/wordsworth-tintern

Yadagiri, G. (2022). Fleeing the Machine: Wordsworth, Romantic Nature, and the Rejection of Urban Industrial Life. International Journal of Technology and Applied Studies, 6(2), 45–58. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/411124282

Yaumi, M. T. A. H., Rahman, F., & Sahib, H. (2023). Exploring WhatsApp as Teaching and Learning Activities during Covid-19/New Normal era: A Semiotic Technology Analysis. International Journal of Current Science Research and Review, 6(12), 7627-7634.