本文分成兩部分，第一部份由十八世紀語言哲學的角度探討渥滋渥斯的詩學和 語言觀，認為其中具有十八世紀語言理論中的文化和社會原始主義，以及有機體主義。渥氏詩中「無言的詩人」形象乃是奠基於這些理論。論文的第二部分則試圖尋找「無言的詩人」在渥氏詩中的發展脈絡。此一脈絡以三首詩呈現：〈一位詩人的墓誌銘〉、〈當我受到這紛亂的世界〉、和《遠足》。在〈一位詩人的墓誌銘〉這首詩裡，可發現「無言的詩人」之雛形。〉當我受到這紛亂的世界〉一詩則是「無言的詩人」這個名詞的出處。而《遠足》裡的「漂流者」，乃是渥氏塑造的一位理想人物，用以結合渥氏心目中地位崇高的「無言的詩人」和社會改革者。透過「漂流者」這位理想人物，渥氏得以化解自己在語言觀和社會道德責任之間的矛盾。 @@@

　　　　　This paper consists of two parts. The first part is a discussion of Wordsworth's ideas concerning language and poetry in the light of eighteenth-century linguistic theories. I try to demonstrate that the poet's linguistic ideas are influenced by eighteenth-century linguistic primitivism and linguistic organicism, which form the basis of Wordsworth's representation of the silent poet. In the second part of the paper, I try to show that besides John Wordsworth, there are other figures in Wordsworth's poems that can be regarded as silent poets. My argument is based on three poems-"A poet's Epitaph," "When, to the attractions of the busy world," and The Excursion. The second among these three poems is where Wordsworth broaches the term "silent poet." And I argue that the mourner in "A poet's Epitaph" is an embryonic form of this figure, whereas the Wanderer in The Excursion is for Wordsworth an ideal person who is not only a silent poet, but also a social reformer. In portraying the Wanderer, Wordsworth resolves his conflict between his sense of the inadequacy of language and his social conscience.