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163:(33,000 lines versus 10,500). Wordsworth often commented in his letters that he was plagued with agony because he had failed to finish the work. In his introduction to the 1850 version, Wordsworth explains that the original idea, inspired by his "dear friend" Coleridge, was "to compose a philosophical Poem, containing views of Man, Nature, and Society, and to be entitled the
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French
Revolution, have thrown up all hopes of amelioration of mankind, and are sinking into an almost Epicurean selfishness, disguising the same under the soft titles of domestic attachment and contempt for visionary philosophies. It would do great good, and might form a Part of 'The Recluse'." (STC to WW, Sept. 1799).
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Coleridge's inspiration and interest is evident in his letters. For instance, in 1799 he wrote to
Wordsworth: "I am anxiously eager to have you steadily employed on 'The Recluse'... I wish you would write a poem, in blank verse, addressed to those who, in consequence of the complete failure of the
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was the product of a lifetime: for the last part of his life
Wordsworth had been "polishing the style and qualifying some of its radical statements about the divine sufficiency of the human mind in its communion with nature".
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Wordsworth pays tribute to
Coleridge in his introduction to the edition of 1850: "work addressed to a dear friend, most distinguished for his knowledge and genius, and to whom the author's intellect is deeply indebted."
190:," "Much of the poem consists of Wordsworth's interactions with nature that 'assure him of his poetic mission.' The goal of the poem is to demonstrate his fitness to produce great poetry, and
63:. The poem was unknown to the general public until the final version was published three months after Wordsworth's death in 1850. Its present title was given to it by his widow Mary.
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itself becomes evidence of that fitness." It traces the growth of the poet's mind by stressing the mutual consciousness and spiritual communion between the world of nature and man.
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in 1798, at the age of 28, and continued to work on it throughout his life. He never gave it a title, but called it the "Poem (title not yet fixed upon) to
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as it developed over the course of his life. Its focus and mood present a sharp and fundamental fall away from the neoclassical and into the
Romantic.
128:. Though Wordsworth planned this project when he was in his late 20s, he went to his grave at 80 years old having written to some completion only
317:. In the course of the poem, such literal journeys become the metaphorical vehicle for a spiritual journey—the quest within the poet's memory ".
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in order to "justify the ways of God to men," Wordsworth chooses his own mind and imagination as a subject worthy of epic.
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a circular journey whose end is 'to arrive where we started / And know the place for the first time' (
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167:; as having for its principal subject, the sensations and opinions of a poet living in retirement".
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The poem was intended as the prologue to a long three-part epic and philosophical poem,
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According to
Monique R. Morgan's "Narrative Means to Lyric Ends in Wordsworth's
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is an extremely personal work and reveals many details of
Wordsworth's life.
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in Book VI and, in the beginning of the final book, the climactic ascent of
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Morgan, Monique R. (2008). "Narrative Means to Lyric Ends in
Wordsworth's
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The work is a poetic reflection on
Wordsworth's own sense of his poetic
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83:, composed 1798–1799, containing the first two parts of the later poem.
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narrates a number of later journeys, most notably the crossing of the
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had been completed, it would have been about three times as long as
358:"The Prelude or, Growth of a Poet's Mind; An Autobiographical Poem"
262:, who is mentioned by name in line 181 of Book One, rewrote God's
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The
Prelude or, Growth of a Poet's Mind; An Autobiographical Poem
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opens with a literal journey whose chosen goal is the Vale of
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Wordsworth initially planned to write this work together with
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Imagination and Taste, How Impaired and Restored (Concluded)
101:, published shortly after Wordsworth's death, in 14 books.
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138:), and leaving no more than fragments of the rest.
227:Retrospect – Love of Nature Leading to Love of Man
364:(1 ed.), London: Edward Moxon, Dover Street
239:Imagination and Taste, How Impaired and Restored
476:Enfolded version of the 1805 and 1850 texts of
686:Lines Written a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey
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36:. Intended as the introduction to the more
16:Autobiographical Poem by William Wordsworth
802:On the Extinction of the Venetian Republic
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485:Large selection of excerpts from the 1805
385:The Norton Anthology of English Literature
283:evolves out of Wordsworth's "persistent
206:Introduction – Childhood and School-Time
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665:Three years she grew in sun and shower
145:, their joint intent being to surpass
71:There are three versions of the poem:
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658:Strange fits of passion have I known
644:She dwelt among the untrodden ways
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467:Complete text of 1850 Version of
90:, which was found and printed by
44:which Wordsworth never finished,
907:Christopher Wordsworth (brother)
739:Composed upon Westminster Bridge
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492:
935:(birthplace and childhood home)
788:Ode: Intimations of Immortality
412:The Poems of William Wordsworth
236:Residence in France (Concluded)
233:Residence in France (Continued)
59:" in his letters to his sister
830:Character of the Happy Warrior
1:
816:The World Is Too Much with Us
765:I travelled among unknown men
1025:Books published posthumously
995:Poetry by William Wordsworth
753:I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud
651:A slumber did my spirit seal
356:Wordsworth, William (1850),
902:Dorothy Wordsworth (sister)
795:Resolution and Independence
502:public domain audiobook at
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897:Dora Wordsworth (daughter)
732:The White Doe of Rylstone
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558:
1020:Samuel Taylor Coleridge
912:Samuel Taylor Coleridge
281:spiritual autobiography
209:School-Time (Continued)
143:Samuel Taylor Coleridge
481:at global-language.com
221:Cambridge and the Alps
212:Residence at Cambridge
179:Literary criticism of
718:Poems, in Two Volumes
198:Books of the 14-book
132:and the second part (
94:in 1926, in 13 books.
618:Anecdote for Fathers
92:Ernest de SĂ©lincourt
32:by the English poet
1015:Philosophical poems
809:The Solitary Reaper
679:Michael, a Pastoral
230:Residence in France
224:Residence in London
880:Guide to the Lakes
552:William Wordsworth
442:10.1353/nar.0.0009
297:, lines 241-42).
61:Dorothy Wordsworth
34:William Wordsworth
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781:My Heart Leaps Up
673:The Matthew poems
51:Wordsworth began
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974:Wordsworth Trust
933:Wordsworth House
836:The Yarrow poems
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517:, Nov. 22, 2007)
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81:Two-Part Prelude
26:autobiographical
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746:Elegiac Stanzas
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611:Lyrical Ballads
609:Preface to the
600:Lyrical Ballads
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472:at Bartleby.com
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268:The Fall of Man
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823:To a Butterfly
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759:The Lucy poems
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461:External links
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436:(3): 298–330.
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337:1850 in poetry
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294:Little Gidding
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855:The Excursion
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625:The Idiot Boy
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561:List of poems
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273:Paradise Lost
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161:Paradise Lost
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152:Paradise Lost
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135:The Excursion
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79:, called the
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38:philosophical
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945:Dove Cottage
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774:London, 1802
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710:Later poetry
700:We Are Seven
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42:The Recluse,
41:
20:
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959:(1813-1850)
957:Rydal Mount
953:(1808-1811)
947:(1799-1808)
941:(1797-1798)
862:The Prelude
846:The Recluse
515:In Our Time
510:The Prelude
499:The Prelude
478:The Prelude
469:The Prelude
307:The Prelude
299:The Prelude
289:T. S. Eliot
192:The Prelude
181:The Prelude
157:The Recluse
147:John Milton
130:The Prelude
126:The Recluse
119:The Recluse
115:The Prelude
113:Structure:
106:The Prelude
53:The Prelude
46:The Prelude
30:blank verse
1010:1850 poems
1005:1805 poems
1000:1799 poems
989:Categories
951:Allan Bank
725:Peter Bell
693:Poor Susan
580:Lake Poets
575:Early life
397:Table Talk
343:References
245:Conclusion
632:Lucy Gray
450:170806680
430:Narrative
97:The 1850
86:The 1805
75:The 1799
57:Coleridge
504:LibriVox
321:See also
303:Grasmere
285:metaphor
264:creation
256:vocation
28:poem in
967:Related
487:Prelude
426:Prelude
368:16 June
315:Snowdon
250:Content
200:Prelude
188:Prelude
165:Recluse
99:Prelude
88:Prelude
77:Prelude
67:Version
890:People
568:Topics
448:
260:Milton
24:is an
926:Homes
872:Prose
446:S2CID
279:This
218:Books
155:. If
40:poem
414:237.
387:323.
370:2016
311:Alps
266:and
117:and
438:doi
428:".
270:in
149:'s
991::
444:.
434:16
432:.
404:^
377:^
360:,
305:.
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544:e
537:t
530:v
452:.
440::
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