William Wordsworth's The Prelude

William Wordsworth valued poetry as a vehicle taken to a great many destinations, from personal creativity to political expression. The characteristic of his poetry that he most valued however, was his capacity to use this medium to communicate the importance of history in the modern day, as well as the impact it would have on the future. His poem "The Prelude" is perhaps his most accomplished example of this unique partnership. Wordsworth believed that history shaped the character of individual men and women as well as the path that they would walk, both as individuals and as wide-ranging societies. His greatest fear was that oppression and subjugation of pre-Revolutionary France would once again return to his beloved country. His utmost apprehension lay in the suggestion that history would another time repeat itself, and his country would be victimized once again. In his poem, "The Prelude," he discusses in detail the intellectual and emotional journey he endured as he deliberately, breathlessly, and guardedly watched history unfold before his very eyes (Hadley, 2001).