William Wordsworth - The Major Works: including The Prelude (Oxford World's Classics)

I, personally, do not really like "The Prelude". It has informative points and tells something of Wordsworth's attitude. He seems quite pleased about the presence of "Negro Ladies" (his words) in London which may say something of his attitude toward race. If the poem were shorter, I should like it more I believe. Keats has a lot, usually unflattering, about Wordsworth's use of the first person in his poems.

The "Lucy" poems do not rank with "Intimations of Immortality". I find them works of great craftmanship rather than the genius that flows over in "Intimations of Immortality".

Coleridge goes into who wrote what lines in the Coleridge poem
of the Ancient Mariner, but the Wordsworth contribution is substantial.

"We Are Seven" is a look into the heart of a young child. It is
in keeping with "Intimations of Immortality" in that respect. "Intimations" is without doubt the finer poem.

Anyone who loves the English language or would master the language should read Wordsworth at his very best. "Intimations" in quality of language rises to the level of Shakespeare. Better can be said of no poetry. But, unlike Shakespeare, Wordsworth wrote a great deal of second or third rate poetry.

If you would see the English language at or near its best, read "Intimations". It may give you as it has given many lovers of poetry thoughts "too deep for tears".


Great edition, well worth buying.   July 6, 2003
 14 out of 22 found this review helpful

'We are Seven' is based on an actual encounter Wordsworth had with a child near the River Wye in 1793.

To say he idolises an imaginary idea of Nature that doesn't exist except in Disney Land is not right. The kind of Nature he writes about exists in the Lake District.

Wordsworth writes about the harsh side of Nature as much as the unambiguously positive sides of it.

This book is most recommended and readers should dispell all those cliches that are stated about the 'Romantic' poets. The term 'Romantic' wasn't used until a long time after most of these poems were written.


Wordsworth often mis-represented   April 18, 2003
 22 out of 25 found this review helpful

Those readers of poetry who discount Wordsworth as merely a poet who "worships" Nature and holds emotion over rational thought are giving him only a shallow reading and relying on the obvious. When Wordsworth's work is read as a whole, and in context with his contemporaries and historical events, then one can begin to appreciate the depth and significance of the philosophical thought behind his poetry.
His reliance on Nature comes not from a worship of it, rather from the belief that philosophical and social issues can be found and answered in Nature. This does not contradict modern scientific thought, which relies upon the observation of the natural world through experimentation. It also eliminates the need for a rigid religious structure, because divinity can be found in Nature. Wordsworth teaches us that we learn, and grow, once we accept that we are part of the natural world, and that Nature does not exist to be conquered.
The feeling and emotion is a "natural" reaction, and therefore should not be discounted and inhibited. His poetry is an expression of this. It is not an attack on rational thought--it is a belief that one can learn through observation of the natural universe, not merely the reading of books and "dead forms."
Wordsworth was a master poet and a genius. he is well-worth the time it takes to study him.