Excerpt from Wordsworth's Theory of Poetic Diction: A Study of the Historical and Personal Background of the Lyrical Ballads The following study was undertaken as a doctoral dis sertation under the direction of Professor Albert 5. Cook of Yale University. To Professor Cook I em especially indebted, not only for stimulating guidance in the field of the English language in general, but for a most minute and painstaking criticism of the proof. To Professor Lane Cooper of Cornell Univefsity I owe a debt less easy of definition. Although he has not read the manuscript of this book, and is not responsible for particular statements herein, the inspiration and the direction that I received from him in my reading of Wordsworth as an under graduate at Cornell has been the most Vital element in my study of the poet; if there is anything good in this work of mine, it is ultimately derived from him. I also wish to make grateful acknowledgment to Professor Charlton M. Lewis for criticism received from him in his course on nineteenth-century poets in the Graduate School of Yale University. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.