3: Again very early in the preface, Wordsworth does not feel the need to defend himself as he believes his writings are the embodiment of a great new style of writing, and those who disapprove or disagree are those who are mistaken. Wordsworth presents as perhaps the most fearless writer in poetry because his style was revolutionary and he did not have qualms about changing writing forever, as well as viewpoints thereupon.

2: This is possibly a manipulative statement to make so quickly in the preface; by mentioning the mindsets of his particular readers, Wordsworth almost "challenges" those who would disapprove to reconsider their own biases and judgments. By proposing that he was almost afraid of his own works causing him to be disliked among his readers, he gives readers every reason to consider his works more fondly, as one would not be happy to know that their own judgment was too harsh upon a writer. Furthermore, as discussed earlier, Wordsworth was "ahead of his time", making his motive easy to pick up on: anyone who chooses to disagree or disapprove is behind the times and they are therefore the ones who should be ridiculed.

1: Providing context for the revision: while Wordsworth's own life was vastly impacted in 1802 by the meeting of his daughter for the first time, this is not the purpose of Wordsworth's new rendition; I would argue that the legal binding of Ireland to England in 1801 was largely responsible for his rewriting of this selection. Wordsworth discusses language in the concrete and in the abstract, possibly to convey the new relationships he could see between his readers and the language: some of his new audience members were largely Irish-speaking rather than English-speaking, as Irish remained the primary language of Ireland up until the union in the early 19th century, so it would make sense for him to use a difference of linguistic styling to appeal to this fresh crop of readers. He also speaks of language in the abstract sense, the language of prose versus the language of poetry, because he intends to appeal to the class of readers with little experience in the way of reading verse, those who may not respect the art of poetry.

What times?