

Wordsworth quotes full#
This relationship is full of contradictions, which the speaker pinpoints in this passage. Speaker, Book SecondĪt the start of Book Second, the speaker wrestles with one of the issues at the heart of the entire Prelude: that of his present self's relationship to his past self. That sometimes, when I think of it, I seemĪnd of some other Being.

Which yet have such self-presence in my mind, In other words, the speaker gains solitude by rejecting human society's rules, and that solitude is frightening but valuable. Meanwhile, while the cliffs seem to judge the speaker for the act of stealing the boat (at least as far as the speaker understands), it is the choice to steal the boat and sneak away into nature that ultimately leads to this experience of profound growth for the speaker. In this moment, the speaker's desire to capture nature in poetry becomes less a matter of mere descriptive vividness, and more a matter of navigating a complex, two-sided relationship. It has the power to watch, follow, and act upon the speaker. The natural world becomes animated and infused with a kind of pantheistic divinity. But here, nature seems to gain a new and formidable agency. Throughout Book First, the speaker describes the liveliness and beauty of the natural world as he experienced it in childhood. Towered up between me and the stars, and still,įor so it seemed, with purpose of its own I struck and struck again,Īnd growing still in stature the grim shape The horizon’s bound, a huge peak, black and huge, When, from behind that craggy steep till then Moreover, Wordsworth compares the figure of the poet to that of the lover, implying that poets are driven by passion and devotion. Poetry is portrayed here as a destiny rather than a choice, meaning that the identity of poet isn't something that can be casually taken on-it's a calling and a way of life. Moreover, the speaker explains, he'd happily give up his dreams of artistry in exchange for a more practical set of skills, but it's not up to him.


Rather than situate it as merely a skill to be learned, he contrasts it with "humbler industry," implying that poetry is more mysterious and less practical than another trade. Here, Wordsworth puts forth an argument about the vocation of poetry. Text Quotes Nature never did betray the heart that loved her (William Wordsworth Quotes) To begin, begin (William Wordsworth Quotes) The flower that smells the sweetest is shy and lowly (William Wordsworth Quotes) Not without hope we suffer and we mourn (William Wordsworth Quotes) Take the sweet poetry of life away, and what remains behind? (William Wordsworth Quotes) His love was like the liberal air, embracing all, to cheer and bless (William Wordsworth Quotes) Father! - to God himself we cannot give a holier name (William Wordsworth Quotes) Lost in a gloom of uninspired research (William Wordsworth Quotes) To be young was very heaven (William Wordsworth Quotes) A genial hearth, a hospitable board, and a refined rusticity (William Wordsworth Quotes) Something between a hindrance and a help (William Wordsworth Quotes) Ocean is a mighty harmonist (William Wordsworth Quotes) What is pride? A rocket that emulates the stars (William Wordsworth Quotes) Wrongs unredressed, or insults unavenged (William Wordsworth Quotes) The thought of our past years in me doth breed perpetual benedictions (William Wordsworth Quotes) Poetry is the outcome of emotions recollected in tranquility (William Wordsworth Quotes) Let Nature be your teacher (William Wordsworth Quotes) The Eagle, he was lord above (William Wordsworth Quotes) The first cuckoo’s melancholy cry (William Wordsworth Quotes) The Rainbow comes and goes, And lovely is the Rose (William Wordsworth Quotes) Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers (William Wordsworth Quotes) The homely beauty of the good old cause Is gone (William Wordsworth Quotes) Society has parted man from man, neglectful of the universal heart (William Wordsworth Quotes) Father! - to God himself we cannot give a holier name.Those lofty hopes awhile, for present gifts
