159-] English Literature
William Wordsworth – Summary
Poet
William Wordsworth worked with Samuel Taylor Coleridge on Lyrical Ballads
(1798). The collection, which contained Wordsworth's "Tintern Abbey,"
introduced Romanticism to English poetry. Wordsworth also showed his affinity
for nature with the famous poem "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud." He
became England's poet laureate in 1843, a role he held until his death in 1850.
Early
Life
Poet
William Wordsworth was born on April 7, 1770, in Cockermouth, Cumberland,
England. Wordsworth’s mother died when he was 7, and he was an orphan at 13.
Despite these losses, he did well at Hawkshead Grammar School — where he wrote
his first poetry — and went on to study at Cambridge University. He did not
excel there, but managed to graduate in 1791.
Wordsworth
had visited France in 1790 — in the midst of the French Revolution — and was a
supporter of the new government’s republican ideals. On a return trip to France
the next year, he fell in love with Annette Vallon, who became pregnant.
However, the declaration of war between England and France in 1793 separated
the two. Left adrift and without income in England, Wordsworth was influenced
by radicals such as William Godwin.
Young
Poet
In
1795, Wordsworth received an inheritance that allowed him to live with his
sister, Dorothy. That same year, Wordsworth met Samuel Taylor Coleridge. The
two became friends, and together worked on Lyrical Ballads (1798). The volume
contained poems such as Coleridge's "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" and
Wordsworth's "Tintern Abbey," and helped Romanticism take hold in
English poetry.
The
same year that Lyrical Ballads was published, Wordsworth began writing The
Prelude, an epic autobiographical poem that he would revise throughout his life
(it was published posthumously in 1850). While working on The Prelude,
Wordsworth produced other poetry, such as "Lucy." He also wrote a
preface for the second edition of Lyrical Ballads; it described his poetry as
being inspired by powerful emotions and would come to be seen as a declaration
of Romantic principles.
"Though
nothing can bring back the hour, Of splendour in the grass, of glory in the
flower." -- from Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early
Childhood
In
1802, a temporary lull in fighting between England and France meant that
Wordsworth was able to see Vallon and their daughter, Caroline. After returning
to England, he wed Mary Hutchinson, who gave birth to the first of their five
children in 1803. Wordsworth was also still writing poetry, including the
famous "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" and "Ode: Intimations of
Immortality." These pieces were published in another Wordsworth
collection, Poems, in Two Volumes (1807).
Evolving
Poetry and Philosophy
As
he grew older, Wordsworth began to reject radicalism. In 1813, he was named as
a distributor of stamps and moved his family to a new home in the Lake
District. By 1818, Wordsworth was an ardent supporter of the conservative
Tories.
Though
Wordsworth continued to produce poetry — including moving work that mourned the
deaths of two of his children in 1812 — he had reached a zenith of creativity
between 1798 and 1808. It was this early work that cemented his reputation as
an acclaimed literary figure.
Death
In
1843, Wordsworth became England's poet laureate, a position he held for the
rest of his life. At the age of 80, he died on April 23, 1850, at his home in
Rydal Mount, Westmorland, England.
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