Prelude (prē´lūd, or prel´ūd), The, or The Growth of a Poet’s Mind.—An autobiographical poem, in blank verse, by William Wordsworth. It was intended as an introduction to “a philosophical poem, containing views of Man, Nature, and Society; and to be entitled [811] The Recluse, as having for its principal subject the sensations and opinions of a poet living in retirement.” This poem was to have consisted of three parts, of which the second only, The Excursion, was completed and published. The Prelude consists of fourteen books: Book one, Childhood and Schooltime; book two, Schooltime, continued; book three, Residence at Cambridge; book four, Summer Vacation; book five, Books; book six, Cambridge and the Alps; book seven, Residence in London; book eight, Retrospect—Love of Nature Leading to Love of Man; book nine, Residence in France; book ten, Residence in France, continued; book eleven, France, concluded; book twelve, Imagination and Taste, How Impaired and Restored; book thirteen, the same subject continued and concluded; and book fourteen, Conclusion.
Primrose (prim´rōz), Rev. Charles.—Vicar of Wakefield, Goldsmith. A clergyman, rich in heavenly wisdom, but poor indeed in all worldly knowledge.
Primrose, Moses.—Brother of the above, noted for giving in barter a good horse for a gross of worthless green spectacles with copper rims.
Primrose, Olivia.—The eldest daughter of the doctor. Pretty, enthusiastic, a sort of Hebê in beauty. “She wished for many lovers,” and eloped with Squire Thorndill.
Primrose, Sophia.—The second daughter of Dr. Primrose. She was “soft, modest, and alluring.”
Princess: a Medley.—A poem by Alfred Tennyson. “It is,” says Stedman, “as he entitles it, a medley, constructed of ancient and modern materials—a show of mediæval pomp and movement, observed through an atmosphere of latterday thought and emotion. The poet, in his prelude, anticipates every stricture, and to me the anachronisms and impossibilities of the story seem not only lawful, but attractive. Tennyson’s special gift of reducing incongruous details to a common structure and tone is fully illustrated in a poem made—
“‘To suit with time and place,
A Gothic ruin and a Grecian house,
A talk at college and of ladies’ rights,
A feudal knight in silken masquerade.’
Other works of our poet are greater, but none is so fascinating. Some of the author’s most delicately musical lines are herein contained. The tournament scene is the most vehement and rapid passage in the whole range of Tennyson’s poetry. The songs reach the high water mark of lyrical compositions. The five melodies—As Thro’ the Land, Sweet and Low, The Splendor Falls, Home They Brought and Ask Me No More—constitute the finest group of songs produced in our century, and the third seems to many the most perfect English lyric since the time of Shakespeare.” The name of the Princess is Ida.
Priscilla (pri-sil´ä).—Courtship of Miles Standish, Longfellow. A Puritan maiden who is wooed by Captain Standish through the mediation of his friend, John Alden, who is in love with Priscilla. She prefers John Alden and marries him after the captain’s supposed death. The captain, however, appears at the close of the wedding service, and the friends are reconciled.
Prometheus (prō-mē´thūs) Bound.—A tragedy of Æschylus, of uncertain date. Prometheus is fabled to have made men of clay, and to have imparted life to them by means of fire brought from heaven. It was said that for this he was bound to the rock by order of Zeus, that he resisted all efforts to subdue his will and purpose, bade defiance to the father of the gods, and disappeared in an appalling tempest. Mrs. Browning published a poetical translation in 1833.