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Written in Early Spring," particularly the second and last stanzas (page 5). (8.) 108. the language of the sense: See note to page 5, line 30, above.

148-149. these gleams Of past existence: See lines 116-120.

THE PRELUDE

PRESENCES OF NATURE IN BOYHOOD

Whereas in "Tintern Abbey" Wordsworth is concerned with his youth and early manhood, here he looks back to his boyhood in the Lake District. He describes his boyish pastimes - mentioned cursorily in "Tintern Abbey," lines 73-74 (page 7) and the mystic experiences which mingled with them. The whole theme is effectively gathered up in the closing apostrophe to the "Presences of Nature" (lines 464-475). In what important way does Wordsworth's relation to nature in boyhood prefigure his relation to nature in early manhood as represented in "Tintern Abbey"?

(9.) 310. springes: snares.

DOWN THE SIMPLON PASS

(12.) 636. Were all like workings of one mind: Compare the preceding selection, lines 401-404.

656. Fit resting-place: how "fit"? Observe the different nature of the waters, and of the poetic mood, in each of the three paragraphs.

THE POET AND THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

Three phases of Wordsworth's political thought are here described: (1) growth, (2) disorder (line 176), and (3) healing (line 321). Each phase is summarized by the poet in the close of his treatment of it. 91-92. Lodged only in its

bosom: The beneficent forces in human society, though allied with the "Wisdom and Spirit of the universe," are not yet constant and safe, but are mixed with evil and subject to injury. This is the condition which the poet says he overlooked in his youthful inexperience, and in his optimism regarding political progress.

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(14.) 176-180. This threw contraries: His love of his native land was changed to antipathy, and thus the proper groundwork of his expanded benevolence for all nations was shaken. Internationalism and patriotism conflicted. Moreover, his love of nature, which was inwoven with his love of his native country, was soured. This meant the corruption of the very source of all his sentiments (see lines 168-172).

216-222. I adhered more firmly to old tenets etc.: In his political theorizing he had previously been joyous and genial (see lines 105 ff, 155 ff); but now he became abstract, polemical, and self-deceptive.

282. Friend: Coleridge, to whom "The Prelude" was addressed.

NATURE'S HEALING

This should be read as a supplement to lines 333-356 of the preceding selection. In both cases, notice how the word "peace" comes into the climax. How was this state of inward serenity brought about, and what are its qualities? How was it reflected in "Tintern Abbey" (page 6)?

THE RECLUSE

The relation between "The Recluse" and "The Prelude" is hinted in the two titles. Wordsworth explains in his preface to "The Excursion" that "The Prelude" was conceived as a biographic introduction to a long philosophical poem "entitled "The Recluse,' as having for its principal subject × the sensations and opinions of a poet living in retirement." Only a portion of this work was written. The selection here given is "a kind of Prospectus of the design and scope of the whole Poem." It serves for us as an epitome of the full Scope of Wordsworthian thought concerning the relationship of man and nature; and it is significant for the literature of the nineteenth century as a whole. In this connection may be read Emerson's tract on "Nature" (in the volume Nature, Addresses, and Lectures) written thirty-five years later.

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(17.) 766. numerous: rhythmical, melodious. Thus used in "Paradise Lost," V, 150.

(18.) 776-783. "fit audience" etc.: The allusions are to Milton's beautiful invocation to Urania, his "Heavenly Muse," in "Paradise Lost," VII, 1-39, which may be read in this connection. - Throughout the rest of the paragraph Wordsworth alludes to various physical features of the story of "Paradise Lost," and throws his own poetic method into contrast.

787. empyreal: pertaining to the empyrean or highest heaven, which consisted, in the old belief, of purest fire and light.

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day: The happy regions of old fable are merely fanciful anticipations of the joy which shall be a natural part of everyday life; cf. line 771.

824. argument: theme. This refers to the whole subject of lines 805-824: the true and joyous harmony of men, and Man, with nature, to be achieved through love and intellect. This thought is the outcome and consummation of the poet's developing experiences shown in “Tintern Abbey" and the selections from "The Prelude."

832. barricadoed: barricaded. The idea is that city evils, with fearful power, hold out against alleviating forces. Wordsworth's experiences during the 1790's had sharpened his perception of the strength of evil; see note to page 12, lines 91-92, above.

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(19.) 837-838. the human Soul things to come: cf. Shakespeare's "prophetic soul Of the wide world, dreaming on things to come" (Sonnets, No. 107). But notice that Wordsworth is invoking, not this "Soul," but the "prophetic Spirit" (line 836) that inspires it. The whole invocation (lines 836-860) may fruitfully be compared, as to tone and idea, with the two great invocations in "Paradise Lost": I, 1-26; and III, 1-55.

THE LUCY POEMS

It is not known whether the poet had an actual girl in mind. (For an interesting discussion of this question, see Harper's

William Wordsworth, I, 377-78.) But it is clear that, written during a visit to Germany, the poems are very largely the outcome of a nostalgic mood, - a yearning, mixed with sadness, for familiar scenes. In respect to mood and imagery, compare the second and third poems with Rogers' "A Wish" (page 1).

(20.) 64-68. Both law and impulse

To kindle or restrain: This dual influence of nature appears also in Wordsworth's account of his own childhood in "The Prelude" (page 9).

MICHAEL

Underneath its plain, actualistic surface, this poem is a deeply imaginative fiction, turning upon a single character-creation. "I have attempted," wrote Wordsworth after finishing it, "to give a picture of a man of strong mind and lively sensibility, agitated by two of the most powerful affections of the human heart: the parental affection; and the love of landed property, including the feelings of inheritance, home, and personal and family independence." Two separate incidents from actual life helped to suggest the plot, and are brought together in the course of it: the disloyalty of the dissolute son of an old couple, of whom the poet had heard; and the laborious erection of a stone sheepfold by an aged shepherd. And of course many objects long familiar to the poet's own eyes are woven in. But the story itself is a new creation; and its value resides in its central character and atmosphere. Observe how the other two personages, and each successive object and occurrence, are subordinated to that character and atmosphere.

To what extent does the poem illustrate Wordsworth's purposes as declared in "The Recluse," lines 809-835 (pages 18-19)?

(21.) 2. Ghyll: (commonly spelled "gill") a ravine or chasm in a hill, generally containing a rapid stream. While composing the poem Wordsworth was accustomed to take the walk here described, stopping to rest, and to write, near the remains of the sheepfold (line 17).

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While similar in subject to the preceding, this poem has supreme lyric concentration, and is magical in its music and suggestiveness. Like other great lyrics e.g., the next poem, "To the Cuckoo" - it is not a transcript of a single experience, but a distillation from many. The immediate impulse to write it came from the following fine sentence which Wordsworth read in a book by a friend: "Passed a female who was reaping alone; she sung in Erse, as she bended over her sickle; the sweetest human voice I ever heard; her strains were tenderly melancholy, and felt delicious long after they were heard no more" (from Thomas Wilkinson's Tour in Scotland). The poet himself, during

the Highland tour in 1803 which produced the preceding poem, had seen many "small companies of reapers."

TO THE CUCKOO

(37.) 16. A voice, a mystery: What feature of the preceding poem is recalled? What else of emotion and method have the two poems in common?

SHE WAS A PHANTOM OF DELIGHT

The subject is the poet's wife.

I WANDERED LONELY

This poem resembles the preceding in rhythm and general movement, passing from a sensuous to a reflective delight, but recapturing its brighter movement in the closing couplet.

The closing stanza recalls Wordsworth's statement that good poetry, though a "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings," nevertheless "takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquillity" (pre- | face to Lyrical Ballads). In his own case at least, the excitement of composition was preceded by much tranquil reflection, aided by a strong visual memory. See "Tintern Abbey," lines 22-30 (page 7); and note to page 36, line 74, above.

ODE TO DUTY

His

"This ode is on the model of Gray's Ode to Adversity, which is copied from Horace's Ode to Fortune" (from Wordsworth's note). In spirit, too, the poet here approaches classical tradition. final stanza closely resembles Gray's. But a comparison of the two poems as wholes will throw into vivid relief Wordsworth's personal emphasis and originality.

He seeks in this piece a harmony of free personal joy and lawgiving duty. The course of his thought may be indicated, stanza by stanza, as follows:

(1) Duty, as lawgiver, is stern. (2) But there are happily constituted persons who, without conscious effort at dutifulness, are generally led aright by "the genial sense of youth" (line 12; cf. "genial spirits" in "Tintern Abbey," line 113, page 8. The meaning is: a youthful, vital kindliness and joy).

(3) Indeed, it is the proper destiny of human nature that love and joy shall become unerring guides (cf. "The Recluse," lines 800-808, page 18). Even now, it is happiness to shape one's life "in the spirit of this creed," yet seeking whenever necessary the support of Duty.

(4) The need of such support the poet has discovered in his own experience. Generally, his native disposition has led him aright (cf. "Tintern Abbey," lines 107-111, page 8; also "The Recluse," lines 772-775, page 18).

(5) But this "unchartered freedom". i.e. freedom unrestricted by devotion to Duty's laws-has led him into bondage of impulses (e.g., see "Resolution and Independence," stanzas IV, VI, page 30). Thus the serene repose of spirit which is the very goal of his creed has not been firmly achieved (see lines 17, 40; also the note on "Nature's Healing," page 658, above). (6) He therefore turns to Duty, and finds now that, while stern, she is also benign, beautiful, and vital, — related to nature's order and strength.

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(7) Guidance and strength for himself he seeks from her. Through increased humility and readiness to sacrifice his desires, he hopes to increase in wisdom and the "confidence of reason" (in contrast with the kind of confidence referred to in lines 2728). As "bondman" of Duty, he will be free "in the light of truth" (cf. lines 3, 7).

ELEGIAC STANZAS

This poem also shows the poet modifying, so to speak, his "creed" of joy; see note on the "Ode to Duty," above, section (3). But here the new control" to which he submits himself (line 34) is grief and fortitude. The occasion for the poem was the death of his brother John.

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The full subject of the poem is not so well indicated by the title as by the motto, adopted by Wordsworth from "My Heart Leaps Up" (see page 32). By "natural piety," in this context, he probably means a spontaneous reverence for the high things in, and symbolized in, nature. Such devotion, persisting throughout the changing years of his life, can bind them together in one high meaning. The same idea runs through "Tintern Abbey," but here it is developed more explicitly, and with an ecstasy and changeful harmony that demanded irregular stanzas instead of blank verse.

Following is a topical outline of the Ode, according to stanzas:

(I, II) The "celestial light" upon natural objects, and its departure from them. (III, IV) The poet's regret for it, amid a joyous May scene.

(V, VI) Its origin in heavenly existence before birth; its fading, as the child grows to manhood.

(VII, VIII) The child imitating man's affairs, and thus preparing to lose it.

(IX) Its persistence in manhood as a dim feeling, but with power to nourish the man's insight into that which is eternal. (X) The poet's resultant joy amid the May scene; his determination to find strength in the feeling continued from childhood together with the insight gained in manhood.

(XI) His devotion to natural objects, persisting from childhood to manhood; the sober coloring (instead of the "celestial light") thrown upon them by his deepened experience of human emotions.

A general question for discussion: what of the experience in this poem is more or less peculiar to Wordsworth, and what of it is common to many?

(40.) 4-5. celestial light - of a dream: the fresh, dreamy, sometimes mystical wonder of a child in regard to the world around him. Compare the following passages, where such wonder, or the spirit within us that inspires it, is alluded to in varying terms: lines 18, 56-57, 64-74, 83, 118-122, 129-132, 141-151, 175-178, 180-182, 190.- Observe that the "celestial light" is quite distinct from esthetic or poetic appreciation, which remains (see stanza II) when it is gone. "To that dream-like vividness and splendor which invest objects of sight in childhood, every one, I believe, if he would look back, could bear testimony" (from Wordsworth's note). 25. The cataracts the steep: Cf. the waterfalls in "Down the Simplon Pass," lines 626-629 (page 12).

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28. The winds -- of sleep: i.e. the west winds-why?

51-55. But there's a tree etc.: The poet recalls the look - so different from their present look which the tree, field, and pansy wore for him in early years. (41.) 58-65. Our birth is but a sleep etc.: Before answering the question asked at the close of the preceding stanza, as to whither "the visionary gleam" has gone, the poet tells whence it came. Concerning the idea of pre-existence, he says in his note: "It is far too shadowy a notion to be recommended to faith, as more than an element in our instincts of immortality. But let us bear in mind that, though the idea is not advanced in revelation [i.e. the Bible]. there is nothing there to contradict it, and the fall of Man presents an analogy in its favor. Accordingly, a pre-existent state has entered into the creeds of many nations; and among all persons acquainted with classic literature, is known as an ingredient in Platonic philosophy - - - Į took hold of the notion of pre-existence as having sufficient foundation in humanity for authorizing me to make for my purpose the best use of it I could as a poet.'

- For Plato's idea of pre-existence, see his "Phaedo," sections 72-77 (Jowett's trans

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