The Prelude, or Growth of a Poet's Mind; An Autobiographical Poem

x, 374 pp. The English Romantic poet's account of lyrical growth, imaginative and spiritual development, and maturity. Intended as part of a larger and more ambitious work called The Recluse, which was to discuss man, nature, and society, though the full work was never completed. This 1850 version was the first to be published, three months after his death, and it was given its title by his widow. Scholars study this against an early 1799 version, as well as an 1805 version, but this 1850 edition is likely the version closest to what Wordsworth intended, as he spent over 50 years of his life adding to and revising the text.