Before the ideas we now define as Romanticism took hold the word 'atmosphere' meant only the physical stuff of air; afterwards, it could mean almost anything, f

Presents an ecocritical study of poetic atmosphere, a concept first developed through Romanticism, particularly in the poetry of William Wordsworth.

This book re-orientates the relationship between urbanization and English Romantic poetry by focusing on urban aspects of Romantic poems.

“[Abrams] can sum up whole epochs and genres with a telling phrase. . . .Admirably cogent and erudite throughout.” —Kirkus Reviews

The surprising idea of pleasure as communal provides a new way of understanding Wordsworth's poetry and the Enlightenment's critical legacy.