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Jamie, I think you describe the thesis too meagerly, thus giving a false impression of it. For the sake of brevity, here is its synopsis (also for any potential publishers out there): “The thesis argues that Wordsworth’s poetry is characterised by an “empiricist” aesthetic, which involves a heavy commitment to description and a desire to limit the interpretive freedom of his readers. Focusing on the poetry up to the 1805 Prelude, the first chapter seeks to make good this analysis of Wordsworth’s mindset, citing some poems, some correspondence, his use of Dorothy Wordsworth’s journal, and some contemporary critical responses. Chapter two describes the empiricist tradition, paying attention to Hartley, Berkeley and others. Chapter three describes Coleridge’s contribution to this empiricist cast of mind, suggesting that Coleridge is himself an empiricist figure, and not the transcendentalist thinker of popular reputation. Chapter four then turns to consider Wordsworth’s influence on some modern poetry, and especially upon Seamus Heaney. Not all poetry shows Wordsworth’s influence, however, and a final chapter suggests some which doesn’t, and gives a list of linguistic and stylistic features that distinguish the empiricist and non-empiricist sorts of verse.” That is a more accurate portrayal of it. I must also add that several peer-reviewed articles drawn from some of the thesis’s chapters were published several years ago. I mention this to point out that there is nothing outlandish in the thesis, as is suggested by your summary of it. On Sat, 22 Oct 2016 17:08, Jamie McKendrick wrote: Way back then I did actually read several chapters of your thesis, Jeff. Much of the work, regarding the history around Coleridge and the Lyrical Ballads, and some of the stuff on Pound, is carefully researched - it's the underlying premise of its application to the contemporary that I radically disagree with. In the end it seems you favour abstraction as an aide to free-association (for me a somewhat solipsistic exercise) and so of course you will prefer most song lyrics to most poetry - as you've come close to admitting at times). But we've had this argument before and neither of us have convinced each other so best we leave it there. Genuinely, Jamie