The Works of William Wordsworth by William Wordsworth

The Works of William Wordsworth Reviews

• 
  Duckpondwithoutducks

  Before I read this book, Daffodils was my favourite Wordsworth poem.
  Now, after reading 900 pages of Wordsworth, Daffodils is still my favourite of his poems!
  Though, now I have a second favourite. Here it is:
  
  To A Butterfly
  I've watched you now a full half-hour,
  Self-poised upon that yellow flower;
  And, little Butterfly! indeed
  I know not if you sleep or feed.
  How motionless! - not frozen seas
  More motionless! and then
  What joy awaits you, when the breeze
  Hath found you out among the trees,
  And calls you forth again!
  
  This plot of orchard-ground is ours;
  My trees they are, my Sister's flowers;
  Here rest your wings when they are weary;
  Here lodge as in a sanctuary!
  Come often to us, fear no wrong;
  Sit near us on the bough!
  We'll talk of sunshine and of song,
  And summer days, when we were young;
  Sweet childish days, that were as long
  As twenty days are now.
  
  About half of the poems are short, and half are longer epics.
• 
  Lynda

  "I wandered lonely as a cloud" was the first line of poetry that spoke to me personally. My first introduction to poetry were psalms: Bible and Shakespeare. Then I ran across this poem and it changed my reading life forever.
• 
  Descending Angel

  I've finally managed to finish this 1000 plus page book of all of Wordsworth's work. The problem is, only maybe about a third of it is any good. There's just pages and pages that are forgettable and just plain bad. Harold bloom said wordsworth had about 10 years, where he wrote all his best and most important work and it's hard to disagree. But, when Wordsworth is good he's great, there are some things in here that are as perfect as you can get, perfect poetry. Highlights ~ "My Heart Leaps Up When I Behold" "We Are Seven" "The Longest Day" "Strange Fits Of Passion Have I Known" "She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways" "To a Skylark" "Love Lies Bleeding" "Nutting " "She Was a Phantom Of Delight" "Star-Gazers" "Tintern Abbey" "Peter Bell" "The World Is too Much With Us" "The Solitary Reaper" "The Cuckoo at Laverna" "Tradition" "The White Doe Of Rylstone" "The Tables Turned" and "Ode: Intimations Of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood".
• 
  Deepika

  Man of verse... the poetry of Wordsworth gets inside you instantly. Emotional. Intellectual. Soul.
• 
  Richard Epstein

  The Old Sheep of the Lake District, Rumpole called him, and, as usual, Rumpole was right. There is great poetry here, salting an interminable field of twaddle.
• 
  Mariano Cascio

  Superlative, Outstanding, Exceptional, World-class piece of art Sir William!
• 
  Kate Griffiths

  Beautiful. I’ve discovered some of my favourite poems now and I’m so glad
• 
  Anima

  BOOK SIXTH
  
  THE CHURCHYARD AMONG THE MOUNTAINS
  "It was the season of unfolding leaves,
  Of days advancing toward their utmost length,
  And small birds singing happily to mates
  Happy as they. With spirit-saddening power
  Winds pipe through fading woods; but those blithe notes
  Strike the deserted to the heart; I speak 860
  Of what I know, and what we feel within.
  --Beside the cottage in which Ellen dwelt
  Stands a tall ash-tree; to whose topmost twig
  A thrush resorts, and annually chants,
  At morn and evening from that naked perch,
  While all the undergrove is thick with leaves,
  A time-beguiling ditty, for delight
  Of his fond partner, silent in the nest.
  --'Ah why,' said Ellen, sighing to herself,
  'Why do not words, and kiss, and solemn pledge; 870
  'And nature that is kind in woman's breast,
  'And reason that in man is wise and good,
  'And fear of him who is a righteous judge;
  'Why do not these prevail for human life,
  'To keep two hearts together, that began
  'Their spring-time with one love, and that have need
  'Of mutual pity and forgiveness, sweet
  'To grant, or be received; while that poor bird--
  'O come and hear him! Thou who hast to me
  'Been faithless, hear him, though a lowly creature, 880
  'One of God's simple children that yet know not
  'The universal Parent, how he sings
  'As if he wished the firmament of heaven
  'Should listen, and give back to him the voice
  'Of his triumphant constancy and love;
  'The proclamation that he makes, how far
  'His darkness doth transcend our fickle light!'"
• 
  Dan Graser

  I am still trying to learn to appreciate poetry more and most recently decided to go through the complete works of Wordsworth. Having begun this complete collection in January and now having just finished it, I will say that I'm very glad that I spaced this out over so much time. The writing is beautiful but at times, but at many points becomes needlessly verbose and bizarrely extraneous.
  
  Frequently when reading the complete novels of great fiction writers, you can read several in a row and really get into their style and under their skin in a most productive way. I discovered, at least for me, if I read too much of a single poet's work in one sitting that I become somewhat numb to their intended effect. This is certainly dangerous with this collection which is over 1000 pages!
  
  The plain-language Romanticism of Wordsworth can be intoxicating at first though after a time has an inuring quality. As such, I decided to read this collection out of order, jumping from one period of his life to the next, and only a little at a time. While there is a great deal of otherwise negligible material here, there are certainly some standouts.
  
  Even though it feels long-winded at times, The Prelude is probably his finest achievement. Some of the finer shorter works at least for me would be:
  To a Butterfly (the version from April 1802)
  My Heart Leaps Up
  Composed Upon Westminster Bridge
  Tintern Abbey
  To a Child
  I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud (commonly identified as "Daffodils")
  
  This is fine poetry (though inconsistent) and an author with whom you should be familiar. The bargain of having the complete works in this very affordable paperback is wonderful, but give Wordsworth a fair shake and don't read this too quickly or too much in one sitting.
• 
  Alan

  In the front of my book (it isn't this one, the one I had dates from 1970, but it was a 'works') I've put 'This horrible book belongs to Alan Beard', so I obviously didn't like it at the time (read for 'O' level). However I've changed my mind since...
• 
  E.J. Cullen

  The more I read about Wordsworth's life, the more I find him very odd. wouldn't be surprised if his sister wrote half of his stuff.
• 
  J.S. Mason

  The simplicity Wordsworth emplores in his work makes all of his poetry seem sincere. He wrote about pastoral folk and understood that emphatic language could be conveyed in a clear way without loft or eloquence. Naturalism is what he discusses in his poems and I like that it made me want to read outside more.
• 
  Chanad

  Reading poetry always makes me happy and when it's a Wordsworth then I don't need any word to describe it.
• 
  Shashi

  The child is the father of a man. who can forget these lines? His poems are full of wisdom and higher intellectual values. He is often regarded as the best poet after Shakespear.
• 
  Manjit Kumar

  William Wordsworth is one of the greatest poets of all time. His poems are romantic in nature and full of wit.
• 
  Sourav

  In my opinion, he is the greatest poet of all time. His poems inspire me a lot.
• 
  Rohan

  One of the best poet of all time. His works are full of emotions and knowledge. The collection inclued all his works in a systematic way.
• 
  Shurvi

  A wonderful collection. Wordsworth is a classic poet who had lead the romantic age single Handley.
• 
  Akash Aryan

  Poems by Wordsworth are wonderful... However, this collection makes it painful with double column printing.
• 
  AttackGirl

  not really a big fan of .... poetry but again it quite romantic if you are into that sort of thang!
  
  Yes I said THANG.... lol
• 
  Lisa (Harmonybites)

  I'm afraid I have to agree with this review on Goodreads: "There is great poetry here, salting an interminable field of twaddle." The great--well, it's so great it pulls the rating up to a three, "I liked it" and am glad I didn't miss it, and this is one of the great poets of the English language. In fact, Wordsworth wrote one of my favorite poems, "Composed Upon Westminster Bridge." It's short enough to quote in its entirety:
  
  Earth has not anything to show more fair:
  Dull would he be of soul who could pass by
  A sight so touching in its majesty:
  This City now doth, like a garment, wear
  The beauty of the morning; silent, bare,
  Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie
  Open unto the fields, and to the sky;
  All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.
  Never did sun more beautifully steep
  In his first splendour, valley, rock, or hill;
  Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!
  The river glideth at his own sweet will:
  Dear God! the very houses seem asleep;
  And all that mighty heart is lying still!
  
  Ironic in a way this should be my favorite. Wordsworth is famous for his poetry about nature; it's one reason he's one of the avatars of Romanticism. And my favorite poem of his, as it was when I only knew a few of his, even after reading hundreds, happens to be one about a city. But then that is probably why it appeals--this could be as much about my own New York City as it is London. And I wouldn't have a problem lauding at least a dozen more. But then there are things like this--the first stanza of "Beggars:"
  
  She had a tall Man's height, or more;
  No bonnet screen'd her from the heat;
  A long drab-colour'd Cloak she wore,
  A Mantle reaching to her feet:
  What other dress she had I could not know;
  Only she wore a Cap that was as white as snow.
  
  Really Wordsworth? Did she have a little lamb that followed her? Not exactly the only line that reeked of cliche. Indeed, one poem is famously bad--so bad it shows up on worst works of poetry lists: "The Thorn:"
  
  There is a thorn; it looks so old,
  In truth you'd find it hard to say,
  How it could ever have been young,
  It looks so old and grey.
  Not higher than a two-year's child,
  It stands erect this aged thorn;
  No leaves it has, no thorny points;
  It is a mass of knotted joints,
  A wretched thing forlorn.
  It stands erect, and like a stone
  With lichens it is overgrown.
  
  That's just the first stanza--for its full awfulness, you need to read the whole thing--if you can make yourself. It's painful. I certainly never found anything like this kind of dross in Keats or Shakespeare (as much as I might not like Keats' Endymion or Shakespeare's "Lover's Complaint" or Rape of Lucrece--well, even Endymion has some gorgeous lines--and bad Shakespeare or Keats is a rare thing. Wordsworth not so much.
• 
  Mohamed

  Wordsworth is the greatest of all the English Romantics ...He is notable especially for his lyricism and for his sensitive and simple style ... but he is not trivial at least when he is at his best in the greatest of his poems ...although he wrote a good deal of bad poetry ... yet he is still one of the most great and the most beautiful of all the poets of the English language
• 
  Karen

  "You know well how great is the difference between two companions lolling in a postchaise and two travellers plodding slowly along the road, side by side, each with his little knapsack of necessaries upon his shoulders. How much more of heart between the two latter!" ... "An idle voice the sabbath region fills of Deep that calls to Deep across the hills" ...
• 
  Joseph Ozias

  Wordsworth is both a genius and a rambler. Some poems are masterfully crafted, while others go on for far too long; while pioneering a form and style of poetry, Wordsworth also fails to capture the magic that Romanticism argues for in the minutia of everything. That said, "To a Child" is the epitome of power in succinctness.