French Literature Reviews - 2026
W. Wordsworth, The Prelude - Growth of a Poet's Mind
Comparative and World Literature
William Wordsworth, The Prelude - Growth of a Poet's Mind, Edited by Maxime Durisotti, Paris, Classiques Garnier, World Literatures collection, 2016
EAN: 9782812435744
586 pages
Price: €29
In this autobiographical poem, William Wordsworth recounts his childhood spent on the hillsides, evokes Cambridge, London, the Alps, and Revolutionary France, and meditates on nature, humanity, and the imagination as he witnesses the awakening and maturation of his poetic vocation. The text selected for this translation is the 1805 version.
Published in the Classiques Garnier World Literatures collection, this presentation makes the 1805 version of William Wordsworth's autobiographical work accessible to readers. The volume traces the trajectory of the author's early life through key locations such as Cambridge, London, the Alps, and Revolutionary France. By focusing on the 1805 text, the edition presents the poem in its earlier form before the extensive revisions of the author's later years, documenting the awakening and maturation of a poetic vocation.
Readers interested in Romantic poetry, autobiography, and the literature of the self may find this edition relevant. Within the broader tradition of introspective verse, The Prelude remains a central text for examining how poetry engages with individual consciousness, memory, and the natural world. The volume provides an opportunity to revisit a work that documents the formation of a literary voice against the backdrop of personal development and historical change.