The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth — Volume 3 (of 8)

About this book

This volume gathers the poems Wordsworth composed in 1804, a year that yielded only a handful of verses but includes two of his most celebrated lines, “I wandered lonely as a cloud” and “She was a Phantom of delight.” The editor notes that the poet’s activity that year is recorded not in the familiar collections Lyrical Ballads or Sonnets, but in the ongoing work on The Prelude, portions of which were dictated to his sister Dorothy or his wife Mary while walking the Lancrigg terrace. The opening pages present the full text of “She was a Phantom of delight,” with its intricate variants and extensive footnotes tracing its genesis from a fragment of a “Highland Girl” poem to its final 1807 publication. Following that, the beloved “I wandered lonely as a cloud” appears, accompanied by scholarly commentary on its revisions, contemporary reception, and the daffodil scene that inspired it.

The language is unmistakably Romantic, blending vivid natural description with reflective introspection. Wordsworth’s diction is plain yet elevated, employing rhythmic stanzaic forms that echo the poet’s own meditations on memory, imagination, and the moral life. Readers who appreciate close readings of early‑19th‑century English poetry, particularly those interested in the development of Wordsworth’s major themes and the editorial history of his works, will find this volume rewarding. It also appeals to scholars of literary biography, as the notes illuminate the personal connections to Mary Wordsworth and the broader cultural context of the period.