Wordsworth's revisitings / by Stephen Gill.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gill, Stephen.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Wordsworth, William, 1770-1850--Criticism and interpretation.

Wordsworth, William.

Wordsworth, William, 1770-1850.

Poets, English--19th century--Biography.

Poets, English.

Criticism and interpretation.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

xii, 265 pages : illustrations ; 23cm

Place of Publication:

New York : Oxford University Press, 2011.

Summary:

Nothing was more important to Wordsworth than tracing the evidence that affinities had been preserved between all the stages of the life of man. In this beautifully written and thoughtful book, Wordsworth's biographer and editor, Stephen Gill, explores the ways in which the poet attempted to maintain such continuities. Habitually reviewing all of his work, both published and that still in manuscript, Wordsworth painstakingly revised at the level of verbal detail or recast more largely, and Gill shows how such revisitings form the heart of his creativity. Combining textual analysis, critical commentary, and biographical narrative, Gill examines what binds Wordsworth's later, less well known poems to his earlier work. He explores how new poems frequently emerged from re-engagement with old, often serving as a sequel to or commentary from the more mature poet on his own earlier writing, and acts of self-borrowing and self-reference are plentiful. These linkings provide insights into the powerful vision Wordsworth maintained that imaginative creation was one evolving unity and reveal much about the obsessions and drives of this great author. At the centre of the book is an account of the evolution of The Prelude from 1804 to 1839, in which it is argued that Wordsworth's masterpiece must be followed through all its versions, seen as a poem growing old alongside its creator. Book jacket.

Contents:

1 Second Thoughts 13

2 The Ruined Cottage Revisited 47

3 The Prelude: 1804-1820 83

4 T/ie Prelude: 1820-1850 123

5 Where Once We Stood Rejoicing 155

6 On Sarum's Plain 179.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [249]-256) and index.

ISBN:

0199268770

9780199268771

OCLC:

706625334