William Wordsworth 
The Recluse 

“The Recluse” is part one of an unfinished philosophical poem by William Wordsworth. It was intended to be a long three-part epic but, although planned in his late 20s, Wordsworth went to his grave at 80 years old having written to some completion only ‘The Prelude’ and the second part ‘The Excursion’, and leaving no more than fragments of the rest. “The Recluse” was to be Wordsworth ‘s three-part masterpiece, but tragically remains uncompleted. We are republishing this short piece with introductory biographical excerpts from Leigh Hunt, Anna Marie Hall and Thomas Carlyle. This little book constitutes a must-read for poetry lovers and is not to be missed by those with an interest in the life and work of this celebrated English Romantic poet.

William Wordsworth (1770–1850) was an English Romantic poet famous for helping to usher in the Romantic Age in English literature with the publication of “Lyrical Ballads” (1798), which he co-wrote with Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
Wordsworth was poet laureate of Britain between 1843 until his death in 1850. Other notable works by this author include: “The Tables Turned”, “The Thorn”, and “Lines Composed A Few Miles above Tintern Abbey”.

About the author

William Wordsworth (1770 –1850) was born in Cockermouth, England, and was part of the famous Lake Poets group. Wordsworth was the United Kingdom’s Poet Laureate from 1843 until his death. He is best-known for his collection of poems, Lyrical Ballads, that he wrote and published with his friend and fellow Lake Poet, Samuel Taylor Coleridge. The seminal collection helped to set England’s Romantic Era in motion.