William Wordsworth's The Prelude

William Wordsworth's long poem "The Prelude" is a fascinating work - as autobiography and as a fragment of historical evidence from the revolutionary and post-revolutionary years. This volume gathers together thirteen essays on "The Prelude", and is useful as a companion for students and general readers of Wordsworth's greatest poem.

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William Wordsworth's long poem The Prelude is a fascinating work-as autobiography, the fruit of many attempts at understanding the formative period of Wordsworth's life; as a fragment of historical evidence from the revolutionary and post-revolutionary years; as an unstable literary text, which mutated through at least five discernable versions from 1799-1839; and as a poem offering the pleasures of blank verse in a variety and to an intensity unmatched in English non-dramatic poetry. In this collection, leading Wordsworth scholar Stephen Gill, gathers together thirteen influential essays on The Prelude. The volume as a whole is a useful and inspiring companion for students and general readers of Wordsworth's greatest, but most demanding poem.