It had been remarked that Wordsworth had the good sense to hold back an introductory piece until he was certain that what it was to introduce had some chance of being realized. It was actually finished in 1805 but was carefully and constantly revised until 1850, when it was published posthumously. As he tells the reader repeatedly, his purpose was threefold: to provide a reexamination of his qualifications, to honor Coleridge, and to create an introduction to The Recluse. The poem itself therefore may be considered an attempt to stall for time before going on to what the poet imagined would be far more difficult composition. Alternating with his almost religious conviction, there is an unremitting strain of dark doubt through the poem.

By the latter date, he felt that his formative years had passed, that his poetic powers were mature, and that he was ready to begin constructing the huge parent work. The poem begins in his boyhood and continues to 1798. And he explained (in the Preface to The Excursian) that The Prelude was like an antechapel through which the reader might pass to gain access to the main body of the structure.

Wordsworth, it will be recalled, likened his projected great philosophical work to a magnificent Gothic cathedral. Many passages can tolerate two or more readings and afford new meaning at each reading. However, the apparent simplicity of the poem is deceptive comprehension is seldom immediate. The Prelude affords one of the best approaches to Wordsworth’s poetry in general and to the philosophy of nature it contains.

The prelude 1805