What do you think?
Rate this book
Selected Poems
One of the major poets of Romanticism, Wordsworth epitomized the spirit of his age with his celebration of the natural world and the spontanous expression of feeling. This volume contains a rich selection from the most creative phase of his life, including extracts from his masterpiece, The Prelude, and the best-loved of his shorter poems such as 'Composed Upon Westminster Bridge', 'Tintern Abbey', 'I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud', 'Lucy Gray', and 'Michael'. Together these poems demonstrate not only Wordsworth's astonishing range and power, but the sustained and coherent vision that informed his work.
314 pages, Paperback
Published March 29, 2005
36 people are currently reading
515 people want to read
About the author
William Wordsworth
2,168 books1,372 followersWilliam 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.
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
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
August 30, 2020
Chronology
Introduction & Notes
Further Reading
A Note on the Texts
--Old Man Travelling
--The Ruined Cottage
--A Night-Piece
--The Old Cumberland Beggar
--Lines Written at a Small Distance from my House
--Goody Blake and Harry Gill
--The Thorn
--The Idiot Boy
--Lines Written in Early Spring
--Anecdote for Fathers
--We Are Seven
--Expostulation and Reply
--The Tables Turned
--Lines Written a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey
--The Fountain
--The Two April Mornings
--'A slumber did my spirit seal'
--Song ('She dwelt among th' untrodden ways')
--'Strange fits of passion I have known'
--Lucy Gray
--Nutting
--'Three years she grew in sun and shower'
--The Brothers
--Hart-Leap Well
--from 'Home at Grasmere'
from 'Poems on the Naming of Places':
--To Joanna
--'A narrow girdle of rough stones and crags'
--Michael
--'I travelled among unknown Men'
--To a Sky-Lark
--Alice Fell
--Beggars
--To a Butterfly ('Stay near me')
--To the Cuckoo
--'My heart leaps up when I behold'
--To H. C., Six Years Old
--'Among all lovely things my Love had been'
--To a Butterfly ('I've watched you')
--Resolution and Independence
--'Within our happy Castle there dwelt one'
--'The world is too much with us'
--'With Ships the sea was sprinkled far and nigh'
--'Dear Native Brooks your ways have I pursued'
--'Great Men have been among us'
--'It is not to be thought of that the Flood'
--'When I have borne in memory what has tamed'
--'England! the time is come when thou shouldst wean'
--Composed by the Sea-Side, near Calais
--'It is a beauteous Evening, calm and free'
--To Toussaint L'Ouverture
--Composed in the Valley, near Dover, on the Day of Landing
--Composed Upon Westminster Bridge
--London, 1802
--'Nuns fret not at their Convent's narrow room'
--Yarrow Unvisited
--'She was a Phantom of delight'
--Ode to Duty
--Ode: Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood
--'I wandered lonely as a Cloud'
--Stepping Westward
--The Solitary Reaper
--Elegiac Stanzas
--A Complaint
--Gipsies
--St Paul's
--'Surprized by joy -- impatient as the Wind'
--Yew-Trees
--Composed at Cora Linn
--Yarrow Visited
--To R. B. Haydon, Esq. ('High is our calling, Friend!')
--Sequel to the Foregoing [Beggars]
--Ode: Composed upon an Evening of Extraordinary Splendor and Beauty
--The River Duddon: Conclusion
--'The unremitting voice of nightly streams'
--Airey-Force Valley
--Extempore Effusion Upon the Death of James Hogg
--'Glad sight wherever new with old'
--At Furness Abbey
--'I know an aged Man constrained to dwell'
from 'The Prelude':
--Book I
--Book II
--Book III
--Book IV
--Book V
--Book VI
--Book VII
--Book VIII
--Book IX
--Book X
--Book XI
--Book XII
--Book XIII
Notes
Index of Titles
Index of First Lines
Introduction & Notes
Further Reading
A Note on the Texts
--Old Man Travelling
--The Ruined Cottage
--A Night-Piece
--The Old Cumberland Beggar
--Lines Written at a Small Distance from my House
--Goody Blake and Harry Gill
--The Thorn
--The Idiot Boy
--Lines Written in Early Spring
--Anecdote for Fathers
--We Are Seven
--Expostulation and Reply
--The Tables Turned
--Lines Written a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey
--The Fountain
--The Two April Mornings
--'A slumber did my spirit seal'
--Song ('She dwelt among th' untrodden ways')
--'Strange fits of passion I have known'
--Lucy Gray
--Nutting
--'Three years she grew in sun and shower'
--The Brothers
--Hart-Leap Well
--from 'Home at Grasmere'
from 'Poems on the Naming of Places':
--To Joanna
--'A narrow girdle of rough stones and crags'
--Michael
--'I travelled among unknown Men'
--To a Sky-Lark
--Alice Fell
--Beggars
--To a Butterfly ('Stay near me')
--To the Cuckoo
--'My heart leaps up when I behold'
--To H. C., Six Years Old
--'Among all lovely things my Love had been'
--To a Butterfly ('I've watched you')
--Resolution and Independence
--'Within our happy Castle there dwelt one'
--'The world is too much with us'
--'With Ships the sea was sprinkled far and nigh'
--'Dear Native Brooks your ways have I pursued'
--'Great Men have been among us'
--'It is not to be thought of that the Flood'
--'When I have borne in memory what has tamed'
--'England! the time is come when thou shouldst wean'
--Composed by the Sea-Side, near Calais
--'It is a beauteous Evening, calm and free'
--To Toussaint L'Ouverture
--Composed in the Valley, near Dover, on the Day of Landing
--Composed Upon Westminster Bridge
--London, 1802
--'Nuns fret not at their Convent's narrow room'
--Yarrow Unvisited
--'She was a Phantom of delight'
--Ode to Duty
--Ode: Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood
--'I wandered lonely as a Cloud'
--Stepping Westward
--The Solitary Reaper
--Elegiac Stanzas
--A Complaint
--Gipsies
--St Paul's
--'Surprized by joy -- impatient as the Wind'
--Yew-Trees
--Composed at Cora Linn
--Yarrow Visited
--To R. B. Haydon, Esq. ('High is our calling, Friend!')
--Sequel to the Foregoing [Beggars]
--Ode: Composed upon an Evening of Extraordinary Splendor and Beauty
--The River Duddon: Conclusion
--'The unremitting voice of nightly streams'
--Airey-Force Valley
--Extempore Effusion Upon the Death of James Hogg
--'Glad sight wherever new with old'
--At Furness Abbey
--'I know an aged Man constrained to dwell'
from 'The Prelude':
--Book I
--Book II
--Book III
--Book IV
--Book V
--Book VI
--Book VII
--Book VIII
--Book IX
--Book X
--Book XI
--Book XII
--Book XIII
Notes
Index of Titles
Index of First Lines
March 18, 2025
I just wanted to note that, and here are some highlights from William's poems:
"My whole life I have lived in pleasant thought,
As if life’s business were a summer mood;
As if all needful things would come unsought
To genial faith, still rich in genial good;
But how can He expect that others should
Build for him, sow for him, and at his call Love him, who for himself will take no heed at all?"
«This morning gives us promise of a glorious day.»
"Thanks to the human heart by which we live,
Thanks to its tenderness, its joys, and fears,
To me the meanest flower that blows can give."
"Whither is fled the visionary gleam?
Where is it now, the glory and the dream?"
"Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting."
"With all the Persons, down to palsied Age,
That Life brings with her in her equipage;
As if his whole vocation
Were endless imitation."
"My whole life I have lived in pleasant thought,
As if life’s business were a summer mood;
As if all needful things would come unsought
To genial faith, still rich in genial good;
But how can He expect that others should
Build for him, sow for him, and at his call Love him, who for himself will take no heed at all?"
«This morning gives us promise of a glorious day.»
"Thanks to the human heart by which we live,
Thanks to its tenderness, its joys, and fears,
To me the meanest flower that blows can give."
"Whither is fled the visionary gleam?
Where is it now, the glory and the dream?"
"Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting."
"With all the Persons, down to palsied Age,
That Life brings with her in her equipage;
As if his whole vocation
Were endless imitation."
October 3, 2022
সেপ্টেম্বরে কি পড়ে শেষ করতে পারলাম, তা নিয়ে নিয়মিত লেখার চেষ্টা করি। বেশিরভাগ সময়ই কোন বই নিয়ে আলাদা করে এখানে রিভিউ লিখলে সেই লেখায় আর ঐ বই নিয়ে অতো আলাপ করতে ইচ্ছা করে না। যেটা নিয়ে আলাদা করে লেখা হয় না, সেটা নিয়েই তাতে কথা বলি। সেখানেই এখনো নিজেকে কবিতা নিয়ে ‘বকলম’ ভাবা আমি কোনমতে একটা অনুচ্ছেদ যুক্ত করেছি এই বই নিয়ে। সেই অনুচ্ছেদ কবিতার ব্যবচ্ছেদে (সম্ভব নয় আমার দ্বারা) মনোযোগী হয় নি, শুধু অনুভূতির বয়ানে সীমাবদ্ধে থেকেছে। সেটা এখানে তুলে দিচ্ছি—-
‘…..ওয়ার্ডসওয়ার্থের সিলেক্টেড পোয়েমস ধরেছিলাম চার বছর আগে। কিনেছিলামও মনে হয় সে সময়েই। এর আগে কোনদিনই কোন ইংরেজী রোমান্টিক কবি বা সে আমলের বা কাছাকাছি অন্য যুগের কবিতার বই পড়ার চেষ্টা করি নি। সাধ্যাতীত মনে হতো, এখনো মনে হয়। তারপর গতবছর ঠিক করলাম চাপ না নিয়ে পড়ে যাব। আর কবিতা জানি না কে কিভাবে পড়ে, আমার বেলায় অল্প অল্প করে পড়লেই মনে হয় কথাগুলোর একটা রেশ থাকে মনে। সুনীল তাঁর কোন এক বইয়ে লিখেছিলেন যে তিনি একটানে কবিতার বই পড়তে পারতেন না, সেই তথ্যও আসলে উৎসাহব্যঞ্জক ছিল। যাই হোক, ওয়ার্ডসওয়ার্থের কবিতা পড়ে ইংরেজী বাক্যকে কতোভাবে অলংকৃত ও গভীর করা যায়, তা জানলাম। বাংলার মতো তো ইংরেজী বাক্য ভেঙে ফেলা যায় না, তাই মনে হতো যে একটা গন্ডিতে গঠন বুঝেই যা লেখার লিখতে গিয়ে বাংলার তুলনায় একটু হলেও তা নীরস হয়ে পড়ে হয়তো। যেহেতু পড়িই নি একেবারে, এই ধারণাটার আসলে তেমন ভিত্তিই নেই। যদিও এ সময়ের কিছু কবিদের কবিতা ভালো লেগেছে টুকটাক। সাহসে কুলোচ্ছিল না বলেই পড়া শুরু করেও থেমে গিয়েছিলাম। আবার পড়তে গিয়ে যাকে বলে মুগ্ধ হয়ে গেলাম সত্যি সত্যিই। ওয়ার্ডসওয়ার্থ এক কথায় অসাধারণ। তিনি গল্প বলে যেতে থাকেন কবিতার মধ্য দিয়ে, একেক সময়ে সেটা ছোট গল্পের ভ্রমও তৈরি করে। ওদিকে ভাষা নিয়ে, নিজস্ব দর্শন নিয়ে তাঁর কবিতার নানা পংক্তি নিঃসন্দেহে ভাবিয়ে তুলে। এরপর আবার সেই আমলের কার কবিতার বই পড়া যায় ভাবছি। ওয়ার্ডসওয়ার্থ পড়ে এটা বুঝেছি যে কেন এতো বছর পরেও তাঁর কবিতা প্রাসঙ্গিক।…’
‘…..ওয়ার্ডসওয়ার্থের সিলেক্টেড পোয়েমস ধরেছিলাম চার বছর আগে। কিনেছিলামও মনে হয় সে সময়েই। এর আগে কোনদিনই কোন ইংরেজী রোমান্টিক কবি বা সে আমলের বা কাছাকাছি অন্য যুগের কবিতার বই পড়ার চেষ্টা করি নি। সাধ্যাতীত মনে হতো, এখনো মনে হয়। তারপর গতবছর ঠিক করলাম চাপ না নিয়ে পড়ে যাব। আর কবিতা জানি না কে কিভাবে পড়ে, আমার বেলায় অল্প অল্প করে পড়লেই মনে হয় কথাগুলোর একটা রেশ থাকে মনে। সুনীল তাঁর কোন এক বইয়ে লিখেছিলেন যে তিনি একটানে কবিতার বই পড়তে পারতেন না, সেই তথ্যও আসলে উৎসাহব্যঞ্জক ছিল। যাই হোক, ওয়ার্ডসওয়ার্থের কবিতা পড়ে ইংরেজী বাক্যকে কতোভাবে অলংকৃত ও গভীর করা যায়, তা জানলাম। বাংলার মতো তো ইংরেজী বাক্য ভেঙে ফেলা যায় না, তাই মনে হতো যে একটা গন্ডিতে গঠন বুঝেই যা লেখার লিখতে গিয়ে বাংলার তুলনায় একটু হলেও তা নীরস হয়ে পড়ে হয়তো। যেহেতু পড়িই নি একেবারে, এই ধারণাটার আসলে তেমন ভিত্তিই নেই। যদিও এ সময়ের কিছু কবিদের কবিতা ভালো লেগেছে টুকটাক। সাহসে কুলোচ্ছিল না বলেই পড়া শুরু করেও থেমে গিয়েছিলাম। আবার পড়তে গিয়ে যাকে বলে মুগ্ধ হয়ে গেলাম সত্যি সত্যিই। ওয়ার্ডসওয়ার্থ এক কথায় অসাধারণ। তিনি গল্প বলে যেতে থাকেন কবিতার মধ্য দিয়ে, একেক সময়ে সেটা ছোট গল্পের ভ্রমও তৈরি করে। ওদিকে ভাষা নিয়ে, নিজস্ব দর্শন নিয়ে তাঁর কবিতার নানা পংক্তি নিঃসন্দেহে ভাবিয়ে তুলে। এরপর আবার সেই আমলের কার কবিতার বই পড়া যায় ভাবছি। ওয়ার্ডসওয়ার্থ পড়ে এটা বুঝেছি যে কেন এতো বছর পরেও তাঁর কবিতা প্রাসঙ্গিক।…’
July 21, 2017
I am not a fan of Wordsworth. I find his poems veering towards the sentimental and obscure. I think his influence in this direction has been mostly negative. But I can respect his ability to put one word after another, and his status as a pioneer - albeit of lands I have no wish to tread.
September 30, 2016
This is proof that tastes change as you age: at university I was not a fan, but now William has the power to move me to tears!
I much prefer his earlier work, and I disagree that 'The Prelude' is his greatest work. It does what William wanted it to do - to keep him in people's minds as a great poet; and he is a great poet.
I much prefer his earlier work, and I disagree that 'The Prelude' is his greatest work. It does what William wanted it to do - to keep him in people's minds as a great poet; and he is a great poet.
Read
August 16, 2024Didn't actually finish, just wanted to get ahead on my gr goal 🧚♀️✨
August 3, 2011
A couple of minor omissions I would’ve liked to see (Simon Lee, for example), but solid collection from one of the best poets ever. I especially like that this includes a healthy selection of The Prelude.
October 5, 2014
After skimming through his poetry for 4 years, I've finally read it all the way through. His worship of nature I think should inspire anyone who feels a need to reconnect with God/Nature. The universe spoke through him and his words still vibrate today.
September 25, 2022
i probably wouldn't read wordsworth's entire prelude, the shorter version at the end of this collection was long enough. my favourite poems were about his time in france, 'We are Seven', 'She was a phantom of delight' and, 'At Furness Abbey'
September 20, 2022
Review of selected poems:
https://withfreedomandbooks.blogspot....
https://withfreedomandbooks.blogspot....
Read
April 15, 2025Didn't manage to finish the last ~100-page poem from The Prelude. But besides that it has some really nice poems, I especially liked Lines Written in Early Spring and Expostulation and Reply.
December 31, 2021
For Poetry collections, I often like to just leave one of my fav poem in review
She Was a Phantom of Delight
She was a Phantom of delight
When first she gleamed upon my sight;
A lovely Apparition, sent
To be a moment's ornament;
Her eyes as stars of Twilight fair;
Like Twilight's, too, her dusky hair;
But all things else about her drawn
From May-time and the cheerful Dawn;
A dancing Shape, an Image gay,
To haunt, to startle, and way-lay.
I saw her upon nearer view,
A Spirit, yet a Woman too!
Her household motions light and free,
And steps of virgin-liberty;
A countenance in which did meet
Sweet records, promises as sweet;
A Creature not too bright or good
For human nature's daily food;
For transient sorrows, simple wiles,
Praise, blame, love, kisses, tears, and smiles.
And now I see with eye serene
The very pulse of the machine;
A Being breathing thoughtful breath,
A Traveller between life and death;
The reason firm, the temperate will,
Endurance, foresight, strength, and skill;
A perfect Woman, nobly planned,
To warn, to comfort, and command;
And yet a Spirit still, and bright
With something of angelic light.
She Was a Phantom of Delight
She was a Phantom of delight
When first she gleamed upon my sight;
A lovely Apparition, sent
To be a moment's ornament;
Her eyes as stars of Twilight fair;
Like Twilight's, too, her dusky hair;
But all things else about her drawn
From May-time and the cheerful Dawn;
A dancing Shape, an Image gay,
To haunt, to startle, and way-lay.
I saw her upon nearer view,
A Spirit, yet a Woman too!
Her household motions light and free,
And steps of virgin-liberty;
A countenance in which did meet
Sweet records, promises as sweet;
A Creature not too bright or good
For human nature's daily food;
For transient sorrows, simple wiles,
Praise, blame, love, kisses, tears, and smiles.
And now I see with eye serene
The very pulse of the machine;
A Being breathing thoughtful breath,
A Traveller between life and death;
The reason firm, the temperate will,
Endurance, foresight, strength, and skill;
A perfect Woman, nobly planned,
To warn, to comfort, and command;
And yet a Spirit still, and bright
With something of angelic light.
November 13, 2015
I enjoyed this book rather less than I had hoped. While Wordsworth is undoubtedly a great writer, he has some peculiar choices for some of his poems' subject matter. I find it completely understandable to write about the splendour of nature, weather, countryside, animals, particular areas of outstanding geographical beauty and even certain people, but when he rambles on at length about individual flowers, rivers or craggy cliffs, I can't help but feeling he has the onset of some kind of poetic madness. If he were alive today, I wonder whether he would write 20-verse odes to ingenious paper clips, miraculous Oyster cards and wondrous Java updates too.
That said, there are a few stand-out 'hit singles' among the experimental album fillers, and I discovered a few masterpieces beyond the most renowned of his works. 3/5
That said, there are a few stand-out 'hit singles' among the experimental album fillers, and I discovered a few masterpieces beyond the most renowned of his works. 3/5
March 28, 2016
A rekindled love for Romantic Era poetry through the words of William Wordsworth! This was definitely a small sampling of his works - I really loved several & there were a few of his epic length one that I found hard to keep up with the narrator. I listened to an audiobook version from my library & found it easier to comprehend more fully by googling a print copy to follow along with.
Either way, Wordsworth evokes emotional and sensory reaction and paints beautiful pictures of his travels and experiences.
Either way, Wordsworth evokes emotional and sensory reaction and paints beautiful pictures of his travels and experiences.
November 25, 2020
“I wondered lonely as a cloud that floats on high o’er vales and hills, when all at once I saw a crowd a host of dancing daffodils.”
I read this back in 2006 whilst trying to become a more cultured individual.
I only know one person who reads poetry for fun. I can’t say that I will start. Poetry isn’t for everyone. I’m sure that person who appreciates poetry more than I, will appreciate this book a lot more.
I read this back in 2006 whilst trying to become a more cultured individual.
I only know one person who reads poetry for fun. I can’t say that I will start. Poetry isn’t for everyone. I’m sure that person who appreciates poetry more than I, will appreciate this book a lot more.
May 3, 2011
A very enjoyable Romantic poet, deals mostly with subjects that are more realistic and down-to-earth. The class I was in applied the lens of nostalgia/longing to the poems, and that proved to be very enjoyable, so I would recommend doing the same. I also recommend reading in conjunction with Samuel Taylor Coleridge and, to some degree, Keats.
April 28, 2019
This edition explanatory notes are pretty bad, mostly consisting in "this poem was composed in XXX" and nothing else, I would have also liked some kind of appendix similar to the ones in Keats' volume, but still...
It's Wordworth.
It's a collection worth reading.
(uhm, pun not intended)
It's Wordworth.
It's a collection worth reading.
(uhm, pun not intended)
May 31, 2009
Wordsworth's poems are absolutely beautiful.
on-pause
December 11, 2012Put on-pause 11 December 2012 although has been on pause since before moving.
February 12, 2014
I'm in love with Wordsworth's writing. I've never been one to like poetry, and now suddenly, I love it. All thanks to him.
Read
August 26, 2014love Heaney so was good to see which ones of these he loved
June 17, 2019
"Surprised by joy--impatient as the Wind" These lines encapsulate some of the feeling engendered by these romantic poems of one of Britain's greatest poets.
July 21, 2021
I appreciate Wordsworth as a master of his craft, but also just not my cup of tea.
Read
July 5, 2022read: “My Heart Leaps Up” and “Tintern Abbey” 09.03
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews