PREFACE. THIS Selection from the Poems of Wordsworth is the result of a suggestion made to "The Wordsworth Society" some years ago. It seemed desirable that, in addition to the annual volume of Transactions, privately printed for its own members, the Society should issue a volume of Selections for general use, the choice and editing of which would be the joint work of those who had taken a chief part in the work of the Society. An earlier idea had been to ask some twenty or thirty of the members-whose critical opinion the rest might specially desire to have to make out a list of the poems which they deemed of greatest value to the world, and to publish these lists in the Transactions. It was thought that, since the Society included several contemporary poets and men of letters, the selections made by them would have a permanent interest to students of literature. Had it been carried out, however, the result would probably have been more curious than useful, and it was found that difficulties stood in the way of its realisation. That idea being abandoned, I undertook the responsibility of fixing on the poems to be included in a volume of Selections; and, sending the list to certain 123520 members of the Society, I received their advice and cooperation in various ways. The names of those who have helped me are printed at pages xiv. and xv. The following are the special features of this volume :(1.) The poems are arranged chronologically, as in the library edition of the poet's works published at Edinburgh (1882-6.)1 (2.) Certain years have been assigned to those who have assisted in the work, and their opinion has been asked as to the wisdom of the selection made from the poems written during these years. In some cases, poems which have been omitted by me have been added by them; and in other instances, those selected by me have been cancelled. (3.) Brief notes have been written by the editors, where they have deemed it necessary. I am responsible for the selection of the text of the poems made use of in this edition. Every reader of Wordsworth knows that his text varied very considerably in the successive editions published during the poet's life-time; and that neither was the first text invariably the best, nor the later always an improvement on the earlier. Mr. Matthew Arnold, in his volume of Selections, has kept throughout to the edition of 1832. Were we limited to a single text I would prefer that of the stereotyped edition of 1836, or the final text of 1849. But we are not thus limited; and an attempt has been made in this volume to select the best text, in 1 Those referring to the tour in Scotland in 1803, however, are printed as if they all belonged to that year, although some were composed many years after. |