The prelude; or, Growth of a poet's mind; an autobiographical poem

1888·8.5 MB·English

by  Wordsworth, William, 1770-1850

THE LIBRARY
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
LOS ANGELES

THE
PRELUDE,
OR
GROWTH OF A POETS MIND;
&ut0Mograpjjtcal
BY WILLIAM WORDSWORTH.
WITH NOTES
BY A. J. GEORGE, A.M.,
ACTING PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH LITERATURE IN BOSTON UNIVERSITY;
INSTRUCTOR IN ENGLISH LITERATURE IN THE
NEWTON HIGH SCHOOL.
"The child isfather ofthe man.'1'1
BOSTON
:
D. C. HEATH & CO., PUBLISHERS.
1888.
COPYRIGHT, 1888,
BY A. J. GEORGE,
J. S. GUSHING & Co., PRINTERS, BOSTON.
STACK ANNEX
TO THE MEMORY
Norman
f^utoson, 3L3L23.,
VHOSE RARE QUALITIES OF MIND AND HEART WERE REVEALED
TO ME IN A LONG AND LOVING INTIMACY, AND WHOSE
COUNSEL, ENCOURAGEMENT, AND FRIENDSHIP HAVE
BEEN AMONG THE BLESSINGS OF MY LIFE,
THIS SELECTION FROM HIS BELOVED
POET IS AFFECTIONATELY
INSCRIBED.

PREFACE.
Thegodstalkinthebreathofthewoods,
Theytalkintheshakenpine,
Andfillthelongreachoftheoldseashore
With dialoguedivine.
Andthepoetwhooverhears
Somerandomwordtheysay,
Isthefatedmanof men
Whomtheagesmustobey.*
IT is interesting in oursurvey ofthe past to study the crises in
the world's history, and notice how Providence has, by particular
surroundings and education, prepared special men for special
emergencies. Seers, prophets, and teachers have been divinely
raised up to interpret the mind ofGod to men, the
Heroes,Sages,Bardssublime,
Andallthatfetchedtheflowingrhyme
Fromgenuinesprings.
In one ofthese crises, thatof the last half of the eighteenth
century, there was a stirringofthedepths in alldepartments of
human life. Literature,the outcome ofthe whole life ofa people,
was consequently involved in the revolutionary conflagration
which ran overall the European world, from the ashes of which
arose new ideas of mankind.
Poetry had been removed from its natural home, the country,
and was forced to do service in the artificial surroundings of city
life. In the hands of Dryden and Pope it had been shorn ofall
1Emerson.
PREFACE.
vi
its natural charms, and appeared in court dress with "ruffles and
rapier." It dealt with the outside aspects and artificial manners
of the people, and lost sight of the human heart,
Thehauntandmainregionofsong.
Duringthistime,Providencewas rearing amidtheruralscenery
of Cumberland and Westmoreland one who was to stand forth
as the exponent and defender of the Beautiful, the True, and
the Good in English poesy, and by whose heroic struggle the
Muse was to be returned to herlong-lost home.
The face of English literature was changed by that infusion of
new blood from the hearts of such men as constituted the new
brotherhood. Out of the souls of Cowper, Wordsworth, and
Coleridge the poetry offreedom, of equal rights and of universal
brotherhood, sprang full-grown into a life of earnest protest
against tyranny of all kinds, political, moral, or priestly, into a
life which was to endure no decay.
The pitiless storm of ribaldry and abuse which the leader of
this new movement of a return to nature had to encounter, was
such aswouldhavediscouragedanyonebuthim whoknewnofear
savethefeartodowrong. Cladinthestrength ofa lofty andcon-
secratedpurpose,hestoodthroughthelongpelting,truetohimself,
and all the time calmly singing from his retirementat Rydal:
Forthus I liveremote
Fromevil-speaking; rancorneversought
Comestomenot; malignanttruth,orlie.
Hencehave Igenialseasons,hencehaveI
Smoothpassion,smoothdiscourseandjoyousthought.
Nota note of querulousness or bitterness escaped him. This
was not the calm ofindifference, butthe calm ofa nature capable
of storms of indignation, yet under the sway ofa powerful will.
The great Preceptress by whom he was educated did not allow
himto remain in the quietude ofNature. The poet ofHumanity
must needs
seeillsights
Ofmaddingpassionsmutuallyinflamed;