Anyone thinking of giving the Prelude a go (probably no one else here now, but fuck it) and put off by the length, I'd recommend reading the much shorter two-part 1799 version - it basically covers the first two books of the later longer versions, where all the real juice is (those amazing childhood passages of stealing birds eggs, stealing a boat, the ice skating on the lake and the drowned man) but in a looser form. Seems WW was a terrible reviser of his own work, 'tightening up' his lines in the later versions while simultaneously adding a lot of pointless detail and more conservative, Christian stuff. The 1799 version also includes the famous and amazing 'spots in time' section in its proper place with his other childhood memories, rather than buried in a much later book in the long versions.
If you read the short 1799 version and like it, then go on to read the 13 book 1805 version for all the extra stuff about going to university and the French Revolution is my advice.
Also Tintern Abby from Lyrical Ballads is superb and goes so well with the Prelude - another way in.