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
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... passing time is given . The Pedlar's hat is moist " as if the brim had scooped a running stream , " and Wordsworth comments that " it seems " that the ... passed , The gooseberry trees that shot in long lank slips , Margaret and Michael 81.
... passed At evening , from behind the garden fence Might hear his busy spade , which he would ply , After his daily work , until the light Had failed , and every leaf and flower were lost In the dark hedges . So their days were spent In ...
Jeffrey Baker. A medley of all tempers , I had passed The night in dancing , gaiety , and mirth , With din of ... passing of pleasure is emphasized in the pace of the verse ; the sense of superficially joyous experiences merely succeeding ...
Contents
Acknowledgments | 9 |
Ordered and Disordered Time | 29 |
The Nature and Status of the Mind | 51 |
Copyright | |
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