William Wordsworth, Poems in Two Volumes

Adam White (The Open University)

Ed. by Daniel Robinson, Widener University
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.06: English Writing and Culture of the Romantic Period, 1789-1837.
Vol. editors: Daniel Cook (University of Dundee), Daniel Robinson (Widener University)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1807

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Poetry (any)

Resources

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The contemporary critical reception of Wordsworth’s

Poems, In Two Volumes

is, according to John O. Hayden, “one of the most disgraceful in the annals of reviewing” (81). It is hard to disagree with this statement after reading these reviews and then reading the collection itself, which features such famous poems as “Resolution and Independence”, “Composed Upon Westminster Bridge, Sept. 3, 1803”, “I wandered lonely as a Cloud”, “The Solitary Reaper”, and, most notably, the poem that Wordsworth later would entitle “Ode: Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood”, which concludes the collection.

Aside from raising significant debate about issues of canonicity, critical reception, and taste, the contents of Poems, in Two Volumes are also

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1953 words

Citation: White, Adam. "Poems in Two Volumes". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 18 October 2016 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=2685, accessed 19 April 2024.]

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