ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -The subtitle of The Prelude is ‘Growth of a Poet’s Mind’. William Wordsworth (1770-1850) began writing his autobiographical blank verse epic in 1798, working on it intermittently until 1839. It was published posthumously in 1850.

Detailed explanation-2: -Originally planned as an introduction to another work, the poem is organized into 14 sections, or books. Wordsworth first began work on the poem in about 1798.

Detailed explanation-3: -As he tells the reader repeatedly, his purpose was threefold: to provide a reexamination of his qualifications, to honor Coleridge, and to create an introduction to The Recluse. It was actually finished in 1805 but was carefully and constantly revised until 1850, when it was published posthumously.

Detailed explanation-4: -The 1805 Prelude, which was found and printed by Ernest de Sélincourt in 1926, in 13 books.

Detailed explanation-5: -The Prelude explores Wordsworth’s development into a poet, the power of nature, the disappointment of the French Revolution (which began in 1789), and various philosophical ideas about art and poetry.