the earlier ones of 1802.

After carefully weighing every consideration, it has seemed to me
desirable to adopt the chronological arrangement in this particular
edition; in which an attempt is made to trace the growth of Wordsworth's
genius, as it is unfolded in his successive works. His own arrangement
of his Poems will always possess a special interest and value; and it is
not likely ever to be entirely superseded in subsequent issues of his
Works. The editors and publishers of the future may possibly prefer it
to the plan now adopted, and it will commend itself to many readers from
the mere fact that 'it was Wordsworth's own'; but in an edition such as
the present--which is meant to supply material for the study of the Poet
to those who may not possess, or have access to, the earlier and rarer
editions--no method of arrangement can be so good as the chronological
one. Its importance will be obvious after several volumes are published,
when the point referred to above--viz. the evolution of the poet's
genius--will be shown by the very sequence of the subjects chosen, and
their method of treatment from year to year.

The date of the composition of Wordsworth's Poems cannot always be
ascertained with accuracy: and to get at the chronological order, it is
not sufficient to take up his earlier volumes, and thereafter to note
the additions made in subsequent ones. We now know (approximately) when
each poem was first published; although, in some instances, they
appeared in newspapers and magazines, and in many cases publication was
long after the date of composition. For example, 'Guilt and Sorrow; or,
Incidents upon Salisbury Plain'--written in the years 1791-94--was not
published 'in extenso' till 1842. The tragedy of 'The Borderers',
composed in 1795-96, was also first published in 1842. 'The
Prelude'--"commenced in the beginning of the year 1799, and completed in