John Gilroy – författare

First published in 1983, this books aims to guide Wordsworth students through his difficult masterpiece by reading it in continuous sequence and making its sense emerge. The special value of this commentary is that it explains the structure of The Prelude by encouraging study of the poem as a continuous whole rather than selectively looking at individual sections — an approach that has typified modern criticism of the work. This depends upon a close attention to the careful arrangement of the verse paragraphs, all of which make an indispensable contribution to the overall thought pattern, thus leading to a fuller appreciation and understanding of the poem.

First published in 1983, this books aims to guide Wordsworth students through his difficult masterpiece by reading it in continuous sequence and making its sense emerge. The special value of this commentary is that it explains the structure of The Prelude by encouraging study of the poem as a continuous whole rather than selectively looking at individual sections — an approach that has typified modern criticism of the work. This depends upon a close attention to the careful arrangement of the verse paragraphs, all of which make an indispensable contribution to the overall thought pattern, thus leading to a fuller appreciation and understanding of the poem.

The literature of the Romantic era is steeped in the politics of revolution and reaction. This volume looks at first and second generation poets such as Wordsworth, Blake, Byron and Shelley and explores their engagement with the turbulent history of their times. Other genres such as drama, fiction and travel writing are also discussed, with close attention paid to texts by Walpole, Austen and Mary Wollstonecraft. Combining thematic analysis with modern critical perspectives, the volume also includes key contextual sections focusing on “Imagination, Truth and Reason”, “Heroes and Anti-heroes” and “Faith, Doubt and Myth”.

This book explores the significance of flight to Romantic literature. Although the Romantic movement and the age of ballooning coincided, there has been a curious and long-time tendency to forget that flight was not impossible during this period. This study details the importance of this new technology to Romantic authors, primarily English Romantic poets. It combines accounts of the exploits and experiences of early balloonists with references to Romantic texts, using ballooning lore to illuminate a range of Romantic writings. The balloonists are seen as not just supplying these writers with a new code of metaphors, but as colleagues engaged in similarly imaginative enterprises. The book uncovers an ‘aerial imagination’ shared by a large number of writers in the Romantic period that has its origins in the balloon adventures of the 1780s and following two decades. It will appeal to scholars and students of Romantic cultural history, as well as those interested in Romantic poetry andthe history of early aeronautics.