UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN STUDIES

IN LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE

NUMBER 17

WILLIAM WORDSWORTH

HIS DOCTRINE AND ART IN THEIR HISTORICAL
RELATIONS

BY

ARTHUR BEATTY

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH

"The Mind of Man-

My haunt, and the main region of my song."

MADISON

1922

Gen.

Ex.

PREFACE

This study deals mainly with the mature theories and poetry of Wordsworth: that is, with the period beginning with the year 1798, and extending to the end of his active career. However, since I regard Wordsworth's doctrines and art as a developing unity and explain that unity by making as clear as possible how the later forms develop out of the earlier, sufficient attention has been paid to the earlier period of his career to make this development intelligible. The carrying out of this design has led to a somewhat detailed study of some of his long poems which have suffered comparative neglect on the part of critics, such as The Excursion, The River Duddon, and The White Doe of Rylstone, with a closer examination than has hitherto been attempted of the relationship of his mature theories to his actual poetical performance. This attempt to unify and harmonize two aspects of Wordsworth which are frequently regarded as hostile may fairly be put forward as a claim by this volume to a distinct place in Wordsworth criticism.

A second mark of individuality which is the outcome of the attempt to view all the poet's writings in their relationships the one to the other, proceeds from the deliberate and somewhat detailed study of Wordsworth's prose. It is hoped that the study of the prose will present important results; but regardless of the value of our examination of the Preface of 1800 and its enlarged form of 1802, it remains true that never before have some of the central passages of this Preface been even commented upon. The same rather surprising thing is true of the Letter to "Mathetes"; and, also of the Preface of 1815, especially in its original unabbreviated form. Furthermore, the prose writings have never been seriously studied as an integral part of the poet's expression supplementary to the poetry and essential in any evaluation of his work as a writer. This serious defect in Wordsworth criticism it is the aim of this book to correct.

It is to be hoped that the connection of Wordsworth with the English philosophers may throw new light on his poetic in