Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

Wordsworth: The Eternal Romantic

Rate this book
Collects forty-six poems and extracts of poems by William Wordsworth, with a biographical introduction and a chronology

Hardcover

First published February 1, 1997

2 people are currently reading
30 people want to read

About the author

William Wordsworth

2,174 books1,374 followers
William Wordsworth (1770-1850) was a major English romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their 1798 joint publication, Lyrical Ballads.

Wordsworth's masterpiece is generally considered to be The Prelude, an autobiographical poem of his early years, which the poet revised and expanded a number of times. The work was posthumously titled and published, prior to which, it was generally known as the poem "to Coleridge". Wordsworth was England's Poet Laureate from 1843 until his death in 1850.

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
5 (13%)
4 stars
16 (43%)
3 stars
12 (32%)
2 stars
3 (8%)
1 star
1 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
103 reviews1 follower
May 15, 2024
some of wordworth’s lines go hard i cant lie
Profile Image for Sarah.
136 reviews4 followers
October 16, 2025
Some of these were really good. But I don’t think the romantic era is for me. Too dramatic & flowery? I like poetry that’s more straight forward. Didn’t feel like I understood this. In theory I should love it, with its focus on nature. Ahhhh idk. But want to read more Wordsworth to gauge better.
Profile Image for Daniel Kukwa.
4,759 reviews125 followers
October 25, 2016
Aside from a few short and sweet entries (including a neat little defence of Shakespeare's sonnets), this is the type of work that reminds me why I'm not a fan of poetry in general. It's too over-written and far too florid for my taste. Poetry tends to make my eyes glaze over...and, for me, Wordsworth is archetypal eye-glazer.
Profile Image for Lahari.
72 reviews
July 23, 2021
special for personal reasons but also furthers my will to go the UK and live a fantasy life ;_;
57 reviews1 follower
Read
July 27, 2011
A compilation of poems from the forerunner of romantic poetry. I was a little disappointed at some of the extracts. Poems like "the Idiot Boy" need to be told in their entirety! However, any Wordsworth fan would be content to meditate on the pages of this book and recite the erudite rhyme in the midst of their nature walks! "Come forth into the light of things,/ Let nature be your teacher"- William Wordsworth.
Profile Image for Dane Cobain.
Author 22 books321 followers
April 28, 2017
This is the perfect introduction to Wordsworth’s work, and so if you like Wordsworth then you’ll love it. My problem is that Wordsworth has had so many imitators over the years that it somehow diminishes his work, although I’m not arguing that he’s one of the greats. That’s why I bought this – I wanted to read a decent amount of his work, and this served that purpose perfectly. I’d recommend it to poetry lovers.

Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.