In “The 1805 Prelude” Wordsworth sets out a rather typical form in terms of progression where the books move chronologically through his life. This seems all well and good until time within the poem goes all sideways. The poem introduces itself in the introduction as being concerned with “Childhood and School-time,” but he doesn’t mention childhood directly until line 268 where he speaks of how the river would “bend his murmur with my nurse’s song.” And so we receive 250 lines of exposition about what the poem will be about before we get to what the poem is about, a seemingly roundabout way for him to approach the subject.
All of this exposition feels like justification for Wordsworth’s passion for his piece. The lines contain some amount of anxiety that his project will not be received or understood fully and therefore undercut its true genius. This analysis comes from lines such as “It is shaken off,/ As by miraculous gift ‘tis shaken off, That burthen of my own unnatural self,/ The heavy weight of many a weary day/ Not mine, and such as were not made for me”(21-5) and “I yearn towards some philosophical song”(230), which both suggest an ultimate goal not yet achieved that could be missed. And I think it is here in the Prelude where Wordsworth’s ego meets his reality in which his legacy is both determined by his inner thoughts of prowess and questioned by societal pressure.
Not totally sure on this, but I think the poem in an earlier form actually began where you state it really gets going re: childhood. Despite that, I think the anxious exposition in form is a good point, and was the starting point for some of my ideas in my own blog post. Wordsworth seems to pin on explanatory notes later for his pieces -- i.e. the preface to Lyrical Ballads. This can have the effect of, I think, restraining one's interpretation of the piece. What's interesting about this exposition is that it doesn't come in terms of a preface but is instead incorporated into the poetic whole by its measured lines as part of the poetic form (what you're addressing here regarding sequence). Could it have been written in prose, or did Wordsworth deem it so important that it needed to be a fresh beginning for his lyrical sequence? I myself really started enjoying the poem more around the 200s, but, hey, what can you do.
ReplyDeleteI think Wordsworth is certainly anxious, as you say, about the reception of this piece, but I also think this chronologically jumbled introduction reflects the urgency that Wordsworth feels. He is not just writing this piece to further his career as a poet, this piece, to be released after his death, is his lasting legacy. I think much of his anxiety stems from leaving pieces out, and so as he tries to begin his story, he agonizes over whether he has told the reader enough. I also think this reflects a certain enthusiasm for the topic, because Wordsworth's introduction reminded me somewhat of the way a young child tells a story. Each part of the story reminds him of another part, even when the connection is not as clear to the listener. I think he is writing this poem from a place of extreme emotions, and the introduction, more than any part of the poem that we read, reflects his desire to capture the whole story.
ReplyDelete