Time and Mind in Wordsworth's PoetryWilliam Wordsworth was fascinated by the relationship of the creative mind to the created world, and by the effect of time on both of them. In this important new study, Jeffrey Baker explores the significant ways in which the theme of time is manifested in the imagery and diction of Wordsworth's major poetry. He discusses the poet's preoccupation with "clock" and "natural" time, as well as his escape from time through "deliberate holiday" and in the famous visionary "spots of time." Throughout his analysis, Baker concentrateson the texts which the poet himself approved for publication, asserting that the growing practice of citing poetically inferior versions for biographical or other extra poetic reasons misdirects a reader's attention. Only by reexamining the familiar poems as poems, rather than as philosophical or psychological statements, is it possible to appreciate how Wordsworth's changing concepts of the creator, the poet, and the ambiguities of time function as works of art. The volume includes a selected bibliography and an appendix describing the early Christian shrines alluded to in The Prelude. |
From inside the book
Results 1-3 of 35
... seen him lay His beauty on the morning hills , had seen The western mountain touch his setting orb , In many a thoughtless hour , when , from excess Of happiness , my blood appeared to flow For its own pleasure . ( Ll . 178-88 ) The ...
... seen him lay His beauty on the morning hills , had seen The western mountain touch his setting orb , In many a thoughtless hour ... Which of the verbs is modified by the adverbial clause ? By the time common sense has construed it with ...
... seen in other poems . The brightness and fixed outlines have gone ; it is dull red and changes its form like a snake . The mere fact that it is seen as a wavering reflection , not directly , symbolizes the loss of a familiar and ...
Contents
Acknowledgments | 9 |
Ordered and Disordered Time | 29 |
The Nature and Status of the Mind | 51 |
Copyright | |
6 other sections not shown