THE testimony is a familiar one of certain major figures of the 19th century who found in Wordsworth's poetry a saving antidote to their crises of faith. Familiar, too, is Wordsworth's own crisis of belief and his recovery among the Cumberland hills where he returned to take up vows once made for him. And in that recovery Wordsworth found a way of seeing into the source of his own being which in turn led to a rediscovery of his belief in man. He found also a new voice, personal and reflective in its tone, which gave a new authority to the poet's role and a new statement of the poet's vision. The vision is a singularly simple one of growth and identity, the same vision that would come to resolve the despair of John Stuart Mill and teach Arnold how to feel. This particular vision of William Wordsworth engendered a way of defining reality that in the 20th century still informs the poetry of certain major figures. Accordingly, not to be aware of this vision is not to understand wholly the achievement of modern poetry and not to hear fully the authenticity of its voice.