Books in the Literature Insights series

This book places Wordsworth's revolutionary poetic practice, in Lyrical Ballads, in the context of a revolutionary age. It considers Wordsworth's provocative theories of how poetry should work, and includes a treatment of the famous 'Preface' to Lyrical Ballads, one of the great poetic manifestos. The main part of the book offers illuminating commentary and questions on the poems, designed to encourage readers to accept Wordsworth's invitation to 'wrestle' with the author. A final section discusses contemporary, Victorian and recent critical approaches to Wordsworth and includes an annotated guide to further reading. Richard Gravil's books include Romantic Dialogues: Anglo-American Continuities, 1776-1862 (Palgrave 2000), Wordsworth's Bardic Vocation, 1787-1842 (Palgrave 2003) And Wordsworth and Helen Maria Williams; or, the Perils of Sensibility (2010), all now available from Lulu. He is also co-editor of the monumental Oxford Handbook of William Wordsworth (2015).