Analysis of Passages

Abstract

Wordsworth’s reputation during his lifetime reached its peak during the 1830s. It owed little to what we call The Prelude, which was published posthumously. Parts of this poem were, however, written as early as 1798 and a more or less full version, which was known to his friends, was complete by 1805. When Coleridge heard Wordsworth recite it in 1807 he was moved to praise it in blank verse. He included this eulogy in Sybilline Leaves in 1817 and referred to Wordsworth’s poem in Biographia Literaria in the same year. Much that Coleridge said and believed about Wordsworth arose from his knowledge of this poem. He believed that Wordsworth was not only a great poet but should write the great philosophical poem that English still lacked. The Prelude (this title was never given to it by the poet himself) was for Wordsworth a prelude to this great philosophical work, proving to himself his fitness for the task. When at last it was published, it afforded the key to the rest of his life’s work, and many later writers believe it was the crown of his poetic achievement. However that may be, Wordsworth himself thought highly enough of the poem to work over it for the rest of his life. Here, then, we shall examine two passages from The Prelude, using the 1805 text that Coleridge heard and admired in 1807.