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Wordsworth's Ruth.(William Wordsworth)(Critical Essay)

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From: The Explicator
Date: 20050922
Author:Markley, A.A.

William Wordsworth's "Ruth" is one of the most neglected poems of the 1800 edition of Lyrical Ballads. Nevertheless, the poem perfectly illustrates Wordsworth's aim in this collection to exemplify the poetic potential of contemporary rustic life. As such, "Ruth" functions as a surprisingly realistic anatomy of mental illness and homelessness, topics as relevant to the present day as they were to the early years of the nineteenth century. "Ruth" also provides an ideal example of Wordsworth's manner of manipulating language to imply a great deal more than initially meets the eye.

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