ABSTRACT

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.

chapter |8 pages

Prospectus

chapter One|15 pages

A Prelude

The Author Behind the Work

chapter Two|18 pages

“Wisdom and s/Spirit of the universe[!]”

The Indeterminacy of Wordsworth’s Religious Signposting

chapter Three|20 pages

“([T]hanks to the good God / That made us)”

The Allusiveness of Wordsworth’s Religious Discourse

chapter Four|42 pages

“Upon this I shall insist elsewhere . . .”

Religion in The Prose Works of William Wordsworth

chapter Five|15 pages

“[S]urrounded . . . by kneeling crowds”

Churchgoing and Prayer in The Poetical Works of Wordsworth

chapter Six|19 pages

The Excursion

Wordsworth’s “Dramatic” Mode

chapter Seven|19 pages

The Prelude

The Author’s Voice

chapter Eight|11 pages

Postscript

The Author’s Method

chapter Retrospect|4 pages

—Or the Turn