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Disowned by Memory: Wordsworth's Poetry of the 1790s

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The praise in my title is superlative, to be sure. There have been a number of brilliant explorations of Wordsworth, perhaps the most misunderstood poet in the language and often misread. But Wordsworth anticipated this misreading, and tried not to despair. He found "Resolution and "Independence." He is a strangely happy poet.

David Bromwich is, perhaps, Wordsworth's ideal reader, insofar as he seems to have an almost telepathic sympathy (a key word for Bromwich as much as for Wordsworth) with Wordsworth's moral, political and individual intentions. His book is also beautifully written (as criticism should be written), which is not to suggest that it is not difficult; complex thought always requires difficulty. Of course Geoffrey Hartman opened the door, in many ways, to the possibilities of profound Wordsworth studies, but Hartman's book is slowly becoming dated, as criticism often is. You must read David Bromwich to reinvigorate the ever-original poems of Wordsworth. If there has ever been a truly perfect essay written on the poet, it is Chapter 4, "Moral Relations in two Prefaces and Lyrical Ballads." The "Tintern Abbey" chapter is also simply splendid.

Unlike the very important and sure-to-be influential philosophical explorations by Paul Fry (2008) and Simon Jarvis (2007), you don't need to know the work of Heidegger or Paul de Man or Coleridge to make sense of Bromwich's book. It is a rare form of criticism, in the wonderfully paradigmatic model of criticism, Hazlitt. I suspect Bromwich's book is a permanent achievement.

I was amazed at how Bromwitch drew all these great connections to the work of Romantic Poet and Baretta star, Robert Blake. I had no idea that the plot to do away with fellow poet Bonnie Lee Blakey was actually inscribed in Tintern Abbey. This is Bromwitch's great insight, and boy, did I lose a lot of sleep over it. I am also impressed with the claim that all of Wordsworth's poetry grew out of his own obsession with the female reproductive system, particularly that of his sister, Dorothea. After reading this book I quickly decided to disown the book, and lent it on purpose to a friend with Alzheimer's, so he would not remember from whence it came. So, I say, thank god for disowning memory!