The Revolutionary 'I'

In the winter of 1798-99, shut up in the freezing German town of Goslar, William Wordsworth began producing a series of lyrical fragments that appeared first in letters written to Coleridge and emerged eventually as source texts for The Prelude. These lyrics are revolutionary because they construct a new version of the autobiographical 'I'. The Revolutionary 'I' explores the numerous voices of the poetic speaker 'Wordsworth' and their relationship to the historical figure who shared the same name.

Ashton Nichols is Associate Professor of English at Dickinson College in Pennsylvania.