Poems, in Two Volumes is a collection by William Wordsworth published in 1807. It contains some of his best-loved poems, including the daffodils poem, the Ode: Intimations of Immortality and many sonnets. Poorly received at first, it is now seen as one of the great books of English Romanticism.
The contents
The collection includes lyrics written between 1800 and 1807 at Dove Cottage in Grasmere, where Wordsworth lived with his sister Dorothy.
Among them are The Solitary Reaper, My Heart Leaps Up, Resolution and Independence and a large group of sonnets, including the sonnet on Westminster Bridge.
The Immortality Ode
The book ends with the ode later known as Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood. It mourns the fading of the vision of childhood and finds consolation in memory.
It is one of the most ambitious and influential poems Wordsworth ever wrote, and he placed it last on purpose.
A cold reception
Critics, notably Francis Jeffrey in the Edinburgh Review, mocked the simplicity of some poems and their everyday subjects.
Wordsworth defended himself in letters, and the poems slowly won readers over the following decades.
Anecdotes
Dorothy's journal
The daffodils poem draws on a walk by Ullswater in April 1802, described in Dorothy Wordsworth's journal, where she noted the flowers dancing in the wind.
Mary's lines
Wordsworth later said that two of the best lines in the daffodils poem were written by his wife, Mary Hutchinson.
Frequently asked questions
When was Poems, in Two Volumes published?
In 1807.
Where did Wordsworth write most of these poems?
At Dove Cottage in Grasmere, in the Lake District.
Which great ode closes the collection?
The ode later called Intimations of Immortality.