The Life of William Wordsworth: A Critical Biography PDF
Preview The Life of William Wordsworth: A Critical Biography
The Life of William Wordsworth BLACKWELL CRITICAL BIOGRAPHIES GeneralEditor:ClaudeRawson This acclaimed series offers informative and durable biographies of important authors, British, European, and North American, which will include substantial critical discussion of their works. An underlying objective is to re-establish the notion that books are written by people who lived in particular times and places. Thisobjectiveispursuednotbyprogrammaticassertionsorstrenuouspoint-making, but through the practical persuasion of volumes which offer intelligent criticism withinawell-researchedbiographicalcontext. Alsointhisseries TheLifeofGeoffreyChaucer TheLifeofW.B.Yeats DerekPearsall TerenceBrown TheLifeofSamuelJohnson TheLifeofEvelynWaugh RobertDeMaria,Jr DouglasLanePatey TheLifeofRobertBrowning TheLifeofGoethe ClydeDeL.Ryals JohnR.Williams TheLifeofWilliamFaulkner TheLifeofJohnMilton RichardGray BarbaraLewalski TheLifeofWalterScott TheLifeofDanielDefoe JohnSutherland JohnRichetti TheLifeofSamuelTaylorColeridge TheLifeofWilliamShakespeare RosemaryAshton LoisPotter TheLifeofThomasHardy TheLifeofGeorgeEliot PaulTurner NancyHenry TheLifeofCeline TheLifeofWilliamWordsworth NicholasHewitt JohnWorthen TheLifeofHenryFielding RonaldPaulson The Life of William Wordsworth A Critical Biography John Worthen Thiseditionfirstpublished2014 ©2014JohnWiley&Sons,Ltd RegisteredOffice JohnWiley&Sons,Ltd,TheAtrium,SouthernGate,Chichester,WestSussex,PO198SQ,UK EditorialOffices 350MainStreet,Malden,MA02148-5020,USA 9600GarsingtonRoad,Oxford,OX42DQ,UK TheAtrium,SouthernGate,Chichester,WestSussex,PO198SQ,UK Fordetailsofourglobaleditorialoffices,forcustomerservices,andforinformationabouthowtoapply forpermissiontoreusethecopyrightmaterialinthisbookpleaseseeourwebsiteatwww.wiley.com/wiley -blackwell. TherightofJohnWorthentobeidentifiedastheauthorofthisworkhasbeenassertedinaccordance withtheUKCopyright,DesignsandPatentsAct1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted,inanyformorbyanymeans,electronic,mechanical,photocopying,recordingorotherwise, exceptaspermittedbytheUKCopyright,DesignsandPatentsAct1988,withoutthepriorpermission ofthepublisher. Wileyalsopublishesitsbooksinavarietyofelectronicformats.Somecontentthatappearsinprintmay notbeavailableinelectronicbooks. Designationsusedbycompaniestodistinguishtheirproductsareoftenclaimedastrademarks.Allbrand namesandproductnamesusedinthisbookaretradenames,servicemarks,trademarksorregistered trademarks of their respective owners. The publisher is not associated with any product or vendor mentionedinthisbook. LimitofLiability/DisclaimerofWarranty:Whilethepublisherandauthorhaveusedtheirbesteffortsin preparingthisbook,theymakenorepresentationsorwarrantieswithrespecttotheaccuracyorcom- pletenessofthecontentsofthisbookandspecificallydisclaimanyimpliedwarrantiesofmerchantability orfitnessforaparticularpurpose.Itissoldontheunderstandingthatthepublisherisnotengagedin renderingprofessionalservicesandneitherthepublishernortheauthorshallbeliablefordamagesaris- ingherefrom.Ifprofessionaladviceorotherexpertassistanceisrequired,theservicesofacompetent professionalshouldbesought. LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData Worthen,John. ThelifeofWilliamWordsworth:acriticalbiography/JohnWorthen. pagescm Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex. ISBN978-0-470-65544-3(cloth) 1. Wordsworth,William,1770-1850.2. Poets,English–19thcentury–Biography. I.Title. PR5881.W752014 821′.7–dc23 [B] 2013039715 AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary. Coverimage:PortraitofWordsworthbyBenjaminHaydon,pencildrawing,c.1815.Bypermissionof TheWordsworthTrust,Grasmere CoverdesignbyNickiAverillDesign&Illustration Setin10/12ptBembobyLaserwordsPrivateLimited,Chennai,India 12014 For Linda Bree OnthevillageSilencesetsherseal Andintheglimmeringvalethelastlightsdie Thekineobscurelyseenbeforemelie Roundthedimhorsethatcropshislatermeal Scarceheardatimelyslumberseemstosteal Oervaleandmountainnowwhileear&eye Alikearevacantwhatstrangeharmony Homefeltandhomecreatedseemstoheal Thatgriefforwhichmysensesstillsupply Freshfood (“WritteninveryearlyYouth,”P2V324–5:1–10) Contents ListofIllustrations ix Acknowledgments x AbbreviationsandTexts xii Foreword:“ThePrelude”:APoemofMyOwnLife? xvii PartI Early Years 1 1 VersionsofHome:1770–83 3 2 HawksheadandEsthwaite:1783–7 18 3 Cambridge:1787–90 37 4 TotheAlps:andWhatFollowed:1790–1 53 5 AnnetteVallon,MicheldeBeaupuy,andtheBishopofLlandaff: 1791–3 69 PartII Writer 91 6 SalisburyPlainanditsConsequences:1793–5 93 7 Racedown:1795–7 113 8 ColeridgeandAlfoxton:1797–8 135 9 LyricalBallads:1798 157 10 HamburgtotheHarz:1798 173 11 WritinginGoslar:1798–9 183 12 SockburntoGrasmere:1799–1800 198 PartIII Town-End 213 13 “HomeatGrasmere,”the“Ode,”“Michael”:1800–1 215 14 Hurting:1800–1 241 15 Marrying:1801–2 249 16 GrasmeretoCalaisandontoGallowHill:1802 265 vii Contents 17 Marriage,FirstChild,andtheTriptoScotland:1802–3 284 18 “ThePrelude”I:1804 303 19 “ThePrelude”II:1804–5 315 20 “ElegiacStanzas,”Poems,inTwoVolumes:1806–7 328 PartIV The Light of Common Day 341 21 “TheRecluse”andTheConventionofCintra:1808–9 343 22 LossandGrief:1809–12 356 23 Stamp-officerandPoetofTheExcursion:1812–14 368 24 “Whatthoughitbepast”:1814 387 PartV Sketches of Late Years 397 25 Poetry,Family,andPolemic:1815–18 399 26 PeterBelland“theghostsofwhattheywere”:1819–26 407 27 “TheRecluse”and“ThePrelude”:1827–33 418 28 ThePastEnshrined:1834–42 429 29 NoRestingPlace:1843–50 439 Afterword 447 Bibliography 451 Index 457 viii
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