Tintern Abbey by William Wordsworth describes returning to a place where the speaker has not been for 5 years. The focus of Wordsworth's poetry is to show memory, more specifically the memory of a oneness with nature. Alfred Lord Tennyson's Locksley Hall similarly describes a return to a place. This location provides particular sentimental value to the speaker as he spent his childhood there and, importantly for this poem, the place where he fell in love. Analysis of the two poems provides insight into the two different eras they represent, as they are written on a similar topic with a different message. Wordsworth uses this meditation on a previously significant place to discuss Romantic ideals of closeness to nature and how childhood allows for a closer connection to nature. Tennyson on the other hand uses his feelings about Locksley Hall to shed light on society's failures. The goal of this essay is to show how memories of the past show Romantic ideals of connection with nature through Wordsworth's poetry and the Victorian goal of critiquing materialism through Tennyson's poetry. In William Wordsworth's Tintern Abbey and Alfred Tennyson's Locksley Hall the memory of childhood is used to reflect the changing mentality of poets representing different generations. The forms of these two poems reflect the trends seen at the time of their publication. Wordsworth's Tintern Abbey is written in unrhymed verse of iambic pentameter, otherwise known as blank verse. Blank verse can be read easily because it resembles prose. In addition to this, iambic pentameter is commonly used to imitate natural speech patterns making it easy to read, an ideal of the Romantic period. Locksley Hall is a dramatic monologue with 97 rhyming couplets. The dramatic monologue was... in the center of the paper... when he remembered his youth. Childhood memories allow speakers at both Tintern Abbey and Locksley Hall to meditate on the past, present and future. Wordsworth's Tintern Abbey uses memory to discuss themes of connection with nature and aging. This is done by carrying forward feelings and comparisons from the past with her younger sister. This theme of connection with nature is indicative of the Romantic era in which it was written and of which Wordsworth was at the forefront. Tennyson's Locksley Hall presents ideas typical of the Victorian era through the speaker's dramatic monologue. The speaker uses the dramatic monologue form to express his thoughts about the past love that left him and what this says about society. Through memory, both of these poems illuminate ideas typical of the respective eras in which they were written.