The Presence of God in the Works of William Wordsworth

Eliza Borkowska

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN:
  9780367641405
• eBook ISBN:
  9781000264005
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: African Literary Criticism
• Index: Literature

Approaching Wordsworth' writings from perspectives which have not been considered in critical literature, this book offers a multiangled reflection on the technicalities of the poet's religious discourse, including the methodology of The Prelude revision, or Wordsworth's patent art of "pious postscripts." The book constitutes a self-contained whole and can be read independently. Simultaneously, it creates an unusual duet with The Absent God in The Works of William Wordsworth, whose six chapters follow this book's eight chapters like a sestet which complements the octave—becoming, thus, a tribute to Wordsworth as one of the most prolific sonneteers in history. Both monographs build their theses on Wordsworth's entire oeuvre and embrace the whole of his wide lifespan. Their completion in 2020 coincides with several round anniversaries: the 250th anniversary of Wordsworth's birth, the 200th anniversary of The River Duddon, and the 170th anniversary of the publication of his autobiographical masterpiece, The Prelude.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Abbreviations
• Notes on Texts
• Prospectus
• One A Prelude: The Author Behind the Work
• Two “Wisdom and s/Spirit of the universe[!]”: The Indeterminacy of Wordsworth’s Religious Signposting
• Three “([T]hanks to the good God / That made us)”: The Allusiveness of Wordsworth’s Religious Discourse
• Four “Upon this I shall insist elsewhere . . .”: Religion in The Prose Works of William Wordsworth
• Five “[S]urrounded . . . by kneeling crowds”: Churchgoing and Prayer in The Poetical Works of Wordsworth
• Six The Excursion: Wordsworth’s “Dramatic” Mode
• Seven The Prelude: The Author’s Voice
• Eight Postscript: The Author’s Method
• Retrospect—Or the Turn
• Bibliography
• Index