William
Wordsworth’s long autobiographical poem The
Prelude was written and developed over a period of 50 years. The final
version was published when he died in 1850, and it is the version that American
readers are most familiar with. But it is the 1805 version that British readers
know, and apparently the reason is nothing more than personal preference.
(Penguin has published a text that includes all four versions – 1798, 1799,
1805, and 1850.)
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| Wordsworth in old age |
Wordsworth and
his sister Dorothy
moved to Dove Cottage in the Grasmere area of England’s Lake District in 1799. They
actually walked the last several miles of their journey to arrive on foot – and
give Wordsworth material and the experiences of wintertime in northern England
for a poem (we don’t know what Dorothy may have truly thought about walking
several miles in the snow).
This was the
first home of their own that they actually lived in together. Orphaned as
children, they and their brother John had been passed from family member to
family member. If for no other reason, Dove Cottage was important to the
Wordsworths as their own family home. And it was here that Wordsworth wrote a
considerable portion of the poetry he’s famous for.
To continue
reading, please see my post today at Tweetspeak
Poetry.
Photograph: Jerwood Centre at the
Wordsworth Trust at Grasmere, in England’s Lake District.
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