Originally published in 1941. This book stresses the transcendental, rather than purely aesthetic, qualities of William Wordsworth's work. It argues that the unusual aspects of Wordsworth's mind are not isolated and did not seem to him fanciful or merely personal; they were, for him, so many paths, difficult to find and harder to follow, yet leading to the great central truth that is the goal of all humankind's loftier strivings.

This book seeks to study the mind of a poet, specifically by picking William Wordsworth as a case study. The reason for signaling out Wordsworth as the person in whom to study the mind of a poet is that The Prelude reveals with unusual fullness a mind that is fundamentally poetic. Even its peculiarities, its numerous limitations, and its unusual emphases are in the main those of a poet. Besides, poetry-not, as with many other writers, religious or social problems, humanitarianism, science, politics, economics, metaphysics, or literary criticism-was the chief concern of his creative years. Further, the sheer amount of verse, criticism, letters, and journals Wordsworth produced makes him an excellent choice for a study of this kind.

This scarce antiquarian book is included in our special Legacy Reprint Series. In the interest of creating a more extensive selection of rare historical book reprints, we have chosen to reproduce this title even though it may possibly have occasional imperfections such as missing and blurred pages, missing text, poor pictures, markings, dark backgrounds and other reproduction issues beyond our control. Because this work is culturally important, we have made it available as a part of our commitment to protecting, preserving and promoting the world's literature.

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This scarce antiquarian book is included in our special Legacy Reprint Series. In the interest of creating a more extensive selection of rare historical book reprints, we have chosen to reproduce this title even though it may possibly have occasional imperfections such as missing and blurred pages, missing text, poor pictures, markings, dark backgrounds and other reproduction issues beyond our control. Because this work is culturally important, we have made it available as a part of our commitment to protecting, preserving and promoting the world's literature.