Wordsworth’s Prodigal Son

Abstract

Wordsworth’s Michael is a poem both enriched and complicated by its web of biblical allusions, echoes, and evocations. Behind he poem’s protagonist stand such Old Testament figures as Jacob and Abraham, and in Michael’s situation are parallels to such narratives as “The Sacrifice of Isaac,” “Jacob and Esau,” and “Joseph and his Brothers” (Bloom, Visionary Company 182–3; Bushnell 246; Levinson 20; Collings 163). Beyond these specific figures and pre-texts, biblical language, themes, and tropes are pervasive. Roston, for example, says that Michael “has a patently biblical substructure” (182), by which he suggests a dependence on biblical names (Michael, Luke), figures (shepherd, patriarch), phrases (“mess of pottage,” “helpmate”), and images (“unhewn stones”). From such examples he is led to claim that the “language of the Bible … is … more than a linguistic device,” for “the entire poem is permeated with biblical morality …” (183). Analysis of the poem’s biblical characteristics and allusions supports an array of critical conclusions. Bushnell, for example, argues for an intriguing Wordsworthian irony in the poet’s revision of the “Sacrifice of Isaac” narrative (250).KeywordsParadise LostPoetic LanguageMetaphorical ProcessDead LetterLiteral LevelThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.