ABSTRACT
Wordsworth approached Cambridge on an inauspicious morning. The weather was dreary and the landscape, unlike the one he was used to, significantly flat. Something of a subdued tone will characterise his attitude to Cambridge throughout the Book and these first impressions give the reader an indication of what to expect. Both the town itself and his life there are consistently described throughout as essentially unreal and the ‘pinnacles’ (5) rising above the groves are the first hint of the almost fairy-tale nature of what he saw.
