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The Prelude begins with these lines: "Oh there is blessing in this gentle breeze A visitant that while it fans my cheek Doth seem half-conscious of the joy it brings" Wordsworth, I note is not a popular poet among certain critics. I think it might be because he demands above all a particular empathy from the reader for his state of mind. In fact, he doesn't try especially to explain himself. I think that he just assumes that the ever present mystical sense in nature is something that any other human being would also perceive. "Doth seen half-conscious..." He wants to bring nature to life. He feels that the gentleness of the breeze is an intentional act. It is a profound thought, that once grasped, leads to a great many other inferences. In tackling a long poem, the reader has to take on an inquisitive frame of mind, a purposeful one. We must be led by our own sense of enquiry into such a poem. [2008 4 10] |