The Borderers

by William Wordsworth

This book is part of the TREDITION CLASSICS. It contains classical literature works from over two thousand years. Most of these titles have been out of print and off the bookstore shelves for decades. The book series is intended to preserve the cultural legacy and to promote the timeless works of classical literature. Readers of a TREDITION CLASSICS book support the mission to save many of the amazing works of world literature from oblivion. With this series, tredition intends to make thousands of international literature classics available in printed format again - worldwide.

Genres: Poetry, Plays, Drama, Classics, British Literature

140 pages, Paperback

First published June 30, 1982

About the author

William Wordsworth (1770-1850) was a major English romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their 1798 joint publication, Lyrical Ballads.

Wordsworth's masterpiece is generally considered to be The Prelude, an autobiographical poem of his early years, which the poet revised and expanded a number of times. The work was posthumously titled and published, prior to which, it was generally known as the poem "to Coleridge". Wordsworth was England's Poet Laureate from 1843 until his death in 1850.

Reviews

[Illiterate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wordsworth responds to The Terror with a study of false denunciations and callous killings.

[Richard Rogers · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this out of a very old Collected Works of Wordsworth volume, one sufficiently large that many of the pages are still connected at the edge and have to be cut apart. It's most fun to read old stuff that way, I think, and I kinda enjoyed reading this, Wordsworth's only play. But I didn't love it. Especially the end.

The language, unsurprisingly, is wonderful and very readable. Both poetic and comprehensible even on first read, it's a pleasure to peruse leisurely. There's some nice stuff there, if one has a mind to delve into it.

Unfortunately, I don't like the story. Forgive the spoilers (or don't), but this is a depressing tragedy that leaves us with nothing beautiful or hopeful to hold on to, like taking a beating for no good reason. Oswaldo, a cruel Iago-type trickster, a man whose conscience was blasted by things he did in war, wants to ruin the heroic Marmaduke in the same way; he wants him to commit a crime he can never recover from, and lies and tricks him, coercing false witnesses to complete the deception. With a whole collection of proofs, Oswaldo makes the hero believe that a certain kind old man he knew--Herbert, a blind, dispossessed old noble with a sweet daughter that Marmaduke is in love with--is actually a kidnapper, stealing the girl from her mother in her infancy. All invented. The hero believes it in the end, and when the old man is in his hands he allows him to be lost in the wasteland near the Scottish border. (He meant to kill him with his own hands, but couldn't go that far.) The hero learns the truth too late, repents in anguish, and attempts to rescue the weak old man from the brutal wilderness where he left him. It is too late, though, and Herbert has died. All this happens just as his lands were about to be restored to him and sweet, doting Idonea at last made happy.

The conclusion? Marmaduke renounces all happiness, resolving to wander the land with only the ghost of the murdered man as company:

No human ear shall ever hear me speak;
No human dwelling ever give me food,
Or sleep, or rest: but, over waste and wild,
In search of nothing, that this earth can give,
But expiation, will I wander on—
A Man by pain and thought compelled to live,
Yet loathing life—till anger is appeased
In Heaven, and Mercy gives me leave to die.

I hate sad, tragic, dismal endings like this and will not make room for them in my heart. (Othello kills the faithful and sweet Desdemona? Iago wins? Jesus, Grandpa! What did you read me this thing for?) Honestly, though, with a happy ending, I woulda given this 4 or 5 stars. And I might have read it again.

Not much recommended. A little.

[Duffy Pratt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wordsworth is a great poet. As a playright? ??? If you want to get a better appreciation for Shakespeare, read something like this. This play seems to include many of the elements that would make for an excellent play -- the intricate plotting of a betrayal; the tension between loyalty and love; the poisonous aspects of ambition, etc... And yet, it all seems a bit one dimensional. There are parts of it that I enjoyed, and it was a painless read, but overall it simply fell flat for me.

[Olivia McQ · Rating 1 out of 5]

This had its moments of clarity, and of poetic skill which I'd expect from Wordsworth but also I just hated it?

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really interesting, and every Romantic scholar should read this (because the mere thought of Wordsworth writing a play kind of cracks me up) - but I vastly prefer his poetry.

[Martin Mcgoey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ummm...yeah. I'm not entirely sure what I just read. The bits of the plot I could follow were a tad interesting and the language was well crafted as far as poetic meter goes.