In Wordsworth's "Tintern Abbey" he speaks frequently of his childhood and his childhood memories. As he revisits the tranquil place that brought him so much joy, he makes a distinction between how he viewed and interacted with nature then, and how he views it now.
The tall rock
The mountain, and the deep and gloomy wood
Their colours and their forms, were then to me
An appetite: a feeling and a love,
His boyish wonder and innocence allowed him to see nature in a different light; he yearned for it and felt deep passion. As he comes back to the banks of the Wye, he realizes his change of perspective and although it is not the same, he is not sadden by it. He appreciates what age and life experience have brought him despite his loss of childlike outlook. He can now, "look on nature, not as in the hour / of thoughtless youth..." In his older years, he can view nature with a deeper and more mature understanding.
Often times I had loved something as a child and then gone back to it later in my life, and felt completely different about it. It is really strange to see the evolution of your mind and how your opinions and perspective have changed. To know that something that once held so much wonder and amusement is now different to you can be disheartening, but it can also be enlightening.
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