Fay — Rhythm and Repetition (2018)

Fay, Jessica. “Rhythm and Repetition at Dove Cottage.” Philological Quarterly 97.1 (2018) 73–95.

“In the year 1845, under the influence of his Tractarian friend Frederick William Faber, William Wordsworth added a number of new poems to his sonnet series on the history of the Church in England, Ecclesiastical Sonnets. These additional poems celebrating a sequence of Anglican rites – including ‘The Marriage Ceremony,’ ‘Thanksgiving after Childbirth’ (Churching), “Visitation of the Sick,’ and the ‘Funeral Service’ – effectively marked Wordsworth as an Oxford Movement sympathizer” (p. 73).

The article offers an extended treatment of the religious views of William and Dorothy Wordsworth.