Poems, in Two Volumes

Poems, in Two Volumes is a collection of poetry by English Romantic poet William Wordsworth, published in 1807.[1]

The title page of Poems in Two Volumes

It contains many notable poems, including:

Critical reception

Poems in Two Volumes has been considered to be the peak of Wordsworth's power, and of his popularity. However, it was poorly reviewed by Wordsworth's contemporaries, including Lord Byron,[2] whom Wordsworth would come to despise. Byron said of the volume, in one of its first reviews, "Mr. W[ordsworth] ceases to please, ... clothing [his ideas] in language not simple, but puerile".[3] Wordsworth himself wrote ahead to soften the thoughts of The Critical Review, hoping his friend Wrangham would push a softer approach. He succeeded in preventing a known enemy from writing the review, but it didn't help; as Wordsworth himself said, it was a case of "Out of the frying pan, into the fire". Of any positives within Poems in Two Volumes, perceived masculinity in "The Happy Warrior" was one. "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" couldn't have been further from it. Wordsworth took the reviews stoically.

References
  1. Poems in Two Volumes, by William Wordsworth, Author of The Lyrical Ballads. I. London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orms. 1807. Retrieved 4 January 2017 – via Internet Archive.; Poems in Two Volumes, by William Wordsworth, Author of The Lyrical Ballads. II. London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orms. 1807. Retrieved 4 January 2017 – via Internet Archive.
  2. "William Wordsworth". Britain Express. 2000. Retrieved 25 December 2009.
  3. Byron, Baron George (1837). The works of Lord Byron complete in one volume. H.L. Broenner. p. 686. Retrieved 29 December 2009.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.