ABSTRACT
In The Prelude William Wordsworth is largely concerned with the way memory and imagination operate for the creative individual. The distinct understanding and perspective upon humanity which colours and defines the nature of their narrative memories, is a direct reflection of each man's profession and also explains the difficulty that their handling of narrative may cause the reader. The negative aspects of the Solitary's handling of narrative bring to the fore a characteristic which is explicit in the third person narratives of The Prelude and implicit in narrative memory: the degree to which it involves appropriating and using the lives of others as a means of self-definition. In The Prelude, Wordsworth is able to shift easily between different poetic selves and to make self-conscious addresses from poet to reader because the subject of the poem is directly related to the writing poet and his audience.
