Here's why:
* Multiple Versions: Wordsworth worked on "The Prelude" for decades, constantly revising and expanding it. There are several manuscripts and printed versions, each with a different number of lines.
* No Definitive Edition: No single version is considered the "final" or "definitive" edition.
* Commonly Used Edition: The most commonly used edition is the one edited by Ernest de Selincourt in 1926, which has 14,000 lines across 14 books.
Therefore, the number of lines in "The Prelude" can vary depending on the version you are referring to.