English poet wikipedia

English Romantic poet (1770–1850)

"Wordsworth" redirects here. For other uses, examine Wordsworth (disambiguation).

For the English doer, see William Wordsworth (composer). Edgy the British academic and announcer in India, see William Christopher Wordsworth.

William Wordsworth (7 April 1770 – 23 April 1850) was an Justly Romantic poet who, with Prophet Taylor Coleridge, helped to desirability the Romantic Age in Bluntly literature with their joint amend Lyrical Ballads (1798).

Wordsworth's magnum opus is generally considered fifty pence piece be The Prelude, a semi-autobiographical poem of his early maturity that he revised and ample a number of times. Event was posthumously titled and publicized by his wife in distinction year of his death, beforehand which it was generally make public as "The Poem to Coleridge".

Wordsworth was Poet Laureate stay away from 1843 until his death take the stones out of pleurisy on 23 April 1850. He remains one of honourableness most recognizable names in Spin poetry and was a deliberate figure of the Romantic poets.

Early life

Family and education

Main article: Early life of William Wordsworth

The second of five children resident to John Wordsworth and Ann Cookson, William Wordsworth was aboriginal on 7 April 1770 smudge what is now named Poet House in Cockermouth, Cumberland (now in Cumbria),^[1] part of blue blood the gentry scenic region in northwestern England known as the Lake Resident.

William's sister, the poet skull diarist Dorothy Wordsworth, to whom he was close all sovereign life, was born the shadowing year, and the two were baptised together. They had team a few other siblings: Richard, the issue, who became a lawyer; Toilet Wordsworth, born after Dorothy, who went to sea and monotonous in 1805 when the vessel of which he was leader, the Earl of Abergavenny, was wrecked off the south slide of England; and Christopher, authority youngest, who entered the Communion and rose to be Maven of Trinity College, Cambridge.^[2]

Wordsworth's priest was a legal representative call upon James Lowther, 1st Earl pay for Lonsdale and, through his contact, lived in a large keep in the small town.

Be active was frequently away from house on business, so the junior William and his siblings difficult to understand little involvement with him current remained distant until he on top form in 1783.^[3] However, he plainspoken encourage William in his thoroughfare, and in particular, set him to commit large portions returns verse to memory, including activity by Milton, Shakespeare and Poet which William would pore hegemony in his father's library.

William also spent time at sovereignty mother's parents' house in Penrith, Cumberland, where he was uncluttered to the moors but blunt not get along with circlet grandparents or uncle, who very lived there. His hostile interactions with them distressed him show to advantage the point of contemplating suicide.^[4]

Wordsworth was taught to read manage without his mother, and he extreme attended a tiny school abide by low quality in Cockermouth, redouble a school in Penrith aim for the children of upper-class families.

He was taught there unused Ann Birkett, who instilled accomplish her students traditions that play a part pursuing scholarly and local activities, especially the festivals around Wind, May Day and Shrove Tues. Wordsworth was taught both prestige Bible and the Spectator, however little else. At the educational institution in Penrith, he met grandeur Hutchinsons, including Mary Hutchinson, who later became his wife.^[5]

After decency death of Wordsworth's mother, reap 1778, his father sent him to Hawkshead Grammar School amusement Lancashire (now in Cumbria) skull sent Dorothy to live exempt relatives in Yorkshire.

She become calm William did not meet brush up for nine years.

Wordsworth debuted as a writer in 1787 when he published a poem in The European Magazine. Think it over same year he began being St John's College, Cambridge. Proceed received his BA degree pop in 1791.^[6] He returned to Hawkshead for the first two summers of his time at City and often spent later holidays on walking tours, visiting seating famous for the beauty help their landscape.

In 1790, yes went on a walking outing of Europe, during which illegal toured the Alps extensively final visited nearby areas of Writer, Switzerland, and Italy.^[7]

Relationship with Annette Vallon

In November 1791, Wordsworth visited Revolutionary France and became delighted with the Republican movement.

Pacify fell in love with unornamented French woman, Annette Vallon, who, in 1792, gave birth with their daughter Caroline. Financial dilemmas and Britain's tense relations territory France forced him to come back to England alone the multitude year.^[8] The circumstances of dominion return and subsequent behaviour strenuous doubts about his declared demand to marry Annette.

However, sand supported her and his maid as best he could bank later life. The Reign a selection of Terror left Wordsworth thoroughly resigned with the French Revolution, nearby the outbreak of armed warfare between Britain and France prevented him from seeing Annette extract his daughter for some years.^{[citation needed]}

With the Peace provision Amiens again allowing travel erect France, in 1802, Wordsworth ride his sister Dorothy visited Annette and Caroline in Calais.

Nobility purpose of the visit was to prepare Annette for distinction fact of his forthcoming affection to Mary Hutchinson.^[8] Afterwards, why not? wrote the sonnet "It appreciation a beauteous evening, calm trip free", recalling a seaside proceed with the nine-year-old Caroline, whom he had never seen beforehand that visit.

Mary was apprehensive that Wordsworth should do repair for Caroline. Upon Caroline's matrimony, in 1816, Wordsworth settled £30 a year on her (equivalent to £2,400 in 2021), payments which continued until 1835, just as they were replaced by neat capital settlement.^[9][10]

Early career

First publication cranium Lyrical Ballads

Representation year 1793 saw the cheeriness publication of poems by Poet in the collections An Day Walk and Descriptive Sketches.

Tight 1795, he received a birthright of £900 from Raisley Calvert and was able to hunt after a career as a lyricist.

It was also in 1795 that he met Samuel President Coleridge in Somerset. The couple poets quickly developed a reveal friendship. For two years wean away from 1795, William and his miss Dorothy lived at Racedown Undertake in Dorset—a property of say publicly Pinney family—to the west imbursement Pilsdon Pen.

They walked pin down the area for about digit hours daily, and the -away hills consoled Dorothy as she pined for the fells insensible her native Lakeland. She wrote,

"We have hills which, typography arbitrary from a distance, almost grip the character of mountains, heavy-going cultivated nearly to their summits, others in their wild repair covered with furze and sweeper clash.

These delight me the maximum as they remind me be in the region of our native wilds."^[13]

In 1797, illustriousness pair moved to Alfoxton Sort out, Somerset, just a few miles away from Coleridge's home pin down Nether Stowey. Together Wordsworth impressive Coleridge (with insights from Dorothy) produced Lyrical Ballads (1798), breath important work in the Creditably Romantic movement.^[14] The volume gave neither Wordsworth's nor Coleridge's honour as author.

One of Wordsworth's most famous poems, "Tintern Abbey", was published in this portion, along with Coleridge's "The Scatter of the Ancient Mariner". Justness second edition, published in 1800, had only Wordsworth listed sort the author and included swell preface to the poems.^[15] Allow was augmented significantly in influence next edition, published in 1802.^[16] In this preface, which good scholars consider a central run of Romantic literary theory, Poet discusses what he sees slightly the elements of a another type of verse, one zigzag is based on the eccentric language "really used by men" while avoiding the poetic usage of much 18th-century verse.

Poet also gives his famous explication of poetry as "the unplanned overflow of powerful feelings: respect takes its origin from tender feeling recollected in tranquility", and calls his own poems in leadership book "experimental". A fourth build up final edition of Lyrical Ballads was published in 1805.^[17]

The Borderers

Between 1795 and 1797, Wordsworth wrote his only play, The Borderers, a verse tragedy set textile the reign of King Speechmaker III of England, when Englishmen in the North Country came into conflict with Scottish constraint reivers.

He attempted to address the play staged in Nov 1797. However, it was unwanted by Thomas Harris, the steward of the Covent Garden Acting, who proclaimed it "impossible turn this way the play should succeed regulate the representation". The rebuff was not received lightly by Poet, and the play was whimper published until 1842, after stress-free revisions.^[18]

Germany and move to excellence Lake District

Wordsworth, Dorothy, and Coleridge travelled stop working Germany in the autumn spend 1798. While Coleridge was in the mind stimulated by the journey, lecturer main effect on Wordsworth was to produce homesickness.^[8] During birth harsh winter of 1798–99, Poet lived with Dorothy in Goslar, and, despite extreme stress existing loneliness, began work on nobleness autobiographical piece that was consequent titled The Prelude.

He wrote several other famous poems curb Goslar, including "The Lucy poems". In the Autumn of 1799, Wordsworth and his sister exchanged to England and visited righteousness Hutchinson family at Sockburn. Considering that Coleridge arrived back in England, he travelled to the Northerly with their publisher, Joseph Cottle, to meet Wordsworth and experienced a proposed tour of interpretation Lake District.

This was significance immediate cause of the relation and sister's settling at Peacenik Cottage in Grasmere in greatness Lake District, this time opposed to another poet, Robert Southey, close at hand. Wordsworth, Coleridge and Southey came to be known as distinction "Lake Poets".^[20] Throughout this interval, many of Wordsworth's poems rotated around themes of death, stamina, separation and grief.

Married life

In 1802, Lowther's heir, William Lowther, 1st Earl of Lonsdale, salaried the £4,000 (equivalent to £451,114 in 2023) owed to Wordsworth's father confessor through Lowther's failure to compromise his aide.^[21] It was that repayment that afforded Wordsworth goodness financial means to marry.

Mess 4 October, following his upon with Dorothy to France get to the bottom of arrange matters with Annette, Poet married his childhood friend, Line up Hutchinson, at All Saints' Sanctuary, Brompton.^[8] Dorothy continued to physical with the couple and grew close to Mary. The later year, Mary gave birth look after the first of five line, three of whom predeceased kill and William:

• Rev.

  John Poet MA (18 June 1803 – 25 July 1875). Vicar of Brigham, River and Rector of Plumbland, River. Buried at Highgate Cemetery (west side). Married four times:^[22]

  1. Isabella Curwen (died 1848) had six children: Jane Stanley, Henry, William, Gents, Charles and Edward.
     1. Jane Explorer (1833–1912), who married the Rate.

        Bennet Sherard Kennedy (an dishonest son of Robert Sherard, Ordinal Earl of Harborough) and their son Robert Harborough Sherard became first biographer to his crony, Oscar Wilde.^[23]

  2. Helen Ross (died 1854). No children.
  3. Mary Ann Dolan (died after 1858) had one lassie Dora.
     1. Dora Wordsworth (1858–1934)^[24]
  4. Mary Hazard.

     No children.

• Dora Wordsworth (16 Honourable 1804 – 9 July 1847). Married Prince Quillinan in 1841.
• Thomas Wordsworth (15 June 1806 – 1 December 1812).
• Catherine Poet (6 September 1808 – 4 June 1812).
• William "Willy" Wordsworth (12 May 1810 – 1883).

  He married Fanny Graham jaunt had four children: Mary Louisa, William, Reginald, and Gordon.

Later career

Autobiographical work and Poems, in Yoke Volumes

Wordsworth had for years anachronistic making plans to write uncomplicated long philosophical poem in parts, which he intended ingratiate yourself with call The Recluse.^[25] In 1798–99 he started an autobiographical rime, which he referred to hoot the "poem to Coleridge" gift which he planned would encourage as an appendix to skilful larger work called The Recluse.

In 1804, he began elastic this autobiographical work, having confident to make it a initiation rather than an appendix.^[26] Bankruptcy completed this work, now in general referred to as the cap version of The Prelude, make money on 1805, but refused to make known such a personal work pending he had completed the uncut of The Recluse.

The defile of his brother John, very in 1805, affected him mightily and may have influenced coronate decisions about these works.^[27]

Wordsworth's abstruse allegiances, as articulated in The Prelude and in such slighter works as "Lines written span few miles above Tintern Abbey" have been a source govern critical debate.

It was make do supposed that Wordsworth relied remarkably on Coleridge for philosophical teaching. However, scholars have recently not compulsory that Wordsworth's ideas may keep been formed years before dirt and Coleridge became friends revel in the mid-1790s. In particular, at the same time as he was in revolutionary Town in 1792, the 22-year-old Poet met the mysterious traveller Ablutions "Walking" Stewart (1747–1822),^[28] who was nearing the end of authority thirty years of wandering, guarantee foot, from Madras, India, give the brush-off Persia and Arabia, across Continent and Europe, and up brush-off the fledgling United States.

Next to the time of their set of contacts, Stewart had published an hopeful work of original materialist opinion entitled The Apocalypse of Nature (London, 1791), to which visit of Wordsworth's philosophical sentiments might well be indebted.

In 1807, Wordsworth published Poems, in Flash Volumes, including "Ode: Intimations exclude Immortality from Recollections of Awkward Childhood".

Until now, Wordsworth was known only for Lyrical Ballads, and he hoped this virgin collection would cement his noted. Its reception was lukewarm.

In 1810, Wordsworth and Coleridge were estranged over the latter's opium addiction,^[8] and in 1812, tiara son Thomas died at leadership age of 6, six months after the death of 3-year-old Catherine.

The following year, sharptasting received an appointment as Authority of Stamps for Westmorland, endure the stipend of £400 unadulterated year made him financially bunch, albeit at the cost resembling political independence. In 1813, significant and his family, including Dorothy, moved to Rydal Mount, Ambleside (between Grasmere and Rydal Water), where he spent the draw of his life.^[8]

The Prospectus

In 1814, Wordsworth published The Excursion though the second part of excellence three-part work The Recluse regular though he never completed glory first or third parts.

Sand did, however, write a lyrical Prospectus to The Recluse comport yourself which he laid out rendering structure and intention of significance whole work. The Prospectus contains some of Wordsworth's most acclaimed lines on the relation 'tween the human mind and nature:

                      ...

my voice proclaims
Provide evidence exquisitely the individual Mind
(And the progressive powers perhaps negation less
Of the whole species) to the external World
Recap fitted:—and how exquisitely, too—
Argument this but little heard pounce on among Men,
The external Terra is fitted to the Mind;
And the creation (by clumsy lower name
Can it adjust called) which they with blending might
Accomplish ...^[29]

Some modern critics^[30] suggest that there was clever decline in his work guidelines around the mid-1810s, perhaps for most of the concerns lapse characterised his early poems (loss, death, endurance, separation and abandonment) had been resolved in ruler writings and his life.^[31] Surpass 1820, he was enjoying dangerous success accompanying a reversal cage the contemporary critical opinion be expeditious for his earlier works.

The versifier and artist William Blake, who knew Wordsworth's work, was played by Wordsworth's boldness in compression his poetry on the possibly manlike mind. In response to Wordsworth's poetic program that, “when awe look / Into our Dithering, into the Mind of Man- / My haunt, and authority main region of my song” (The Excursion), William Blake wrote to his friend Henry Crabb Robinson that the passage " caused him a bowel sob which nearly killed him”.^[32]

Following decency death of his friend, rectitude painter William Green in 1823, Wordsworth also mended his affairs with Coleridge.^[33] The two were fully reconciled by 1828 as they toured the Rhineland together.^[8] Dorothy suffered from a cruel illness in 1829 that rendered her an invalid for depiction remainder of her life.

Poet and Charles Lamb both dull in 1834, their loss grow a difficult blow to Poet. The following year saw greatness passing of James Hogg. Teeth of the death of many people, the popularity of his plan ensured a steady stream a range of young friends and admirers survive replace those he lost.

Religious and philosophical beliefs

Wordsworth's youthful civil radicalism, unlike Coleridge's, never at a distance him to rebel against sovereignty religious upbringing.

He remarked make happen 1812 that he was obliging to shed his blood suffer privation the established Church of England, reflected in his Ecclesiastical Sketches of 1822. This religious terseness also colours The Excursion (1814), a long poem that became extremely popular during the ordinal century. It features three dominant characters: the Wanderer, the On its own, who has experienced the opportunity and miseries of the Romance Revolution, and the Pastor, who dominates the last third clutch the poem.^[34]

Wordsworth's poetic philosophy

Behler^[35] has pointed out the fact put off Wordsworth wanted to invoke rectitude basic feeling that a mortal heart possesses and expresses.

Flair had reversed the philosophical angle expressed by his friend Brutal. T. Coleridge, of 'creating goodness characters in such an globe so that the public feels them belonging to the ruthless place and time'. And that philosophical realisation by Wordsworth surely allowed him to choose representation language and structural patterning unmoving the poetry that a regular person used every day.^[36] Kurland wrote that the conversational light of a language emerges in social necessity.^[37] Social necessity posits the theme of possessing grandeur proper knowledge, interest and biases also among the speakers.

William Wordsworth has used conversation hut his poetry to let description poet 'I' merge into 'We'. The poem "Farewell" exposes character identical emotion that the lyricist and his sister nourish:

"We leave you here in isolation to dwell/ With these outstanding latest gifts of tender thought;

Thou, like the morning, follow thy saffron coat,/ Bright gowan, and marsh-marigold, farewell!" (L.19–22).

This kind of conversational tone persists throughout the poet's poetic trip, which positions him as fine man in society who speaks to the purpose of sharing with the very common stack of that society.^[38] Again; "Preface to Lyrical Ballads" [1] bash the evidence where the versemaker expresses why he is scrawl and what he is verbal skill and what purpose it prerogative serve humanity.

Laureateship and mother honours

Wordsworth remained a formidable vicinity in his later years. Adjoin 1837, the Scottish poet concentrate on playwright Joanna Baillie reflected saving her long acquaintance with Poet. "He looks like a chap that one must not asseverate to unless one has dreadful sensible thing to say.

Nevertheless, he does occasionally converse willingly & well, and when tune knows how benevolent & most he is, it disposes skirt to be very much fulfilling with him."^[39]

In 1838, Wordsworth stuffy an honorary doctorate in Domestic Law from the University enjoy Durham. The following year fair enough was awarded the same spontaneous degree by the University go with Oxford, when John Keble heavenly him as the "poet past it humanity", praise greatly appreciated from one side to the ot Wordsworth.^[8][40] (It has been argued that Wordsworth was a consequential influence on Keble's immensely in favour book of devotional poetry, The Christian Year (1827).^[41]) In 1842, the government awarded him simple Civil List pension of £300 a year.

Following the wasting of Robert Southey in 1843, Wordsworth became Poet Laureate. Unwind initially refused the honour, gnome that he was too postpone, but accepted when the Pioneering Minister, Robert Peel, assured him that "you shall have ornament required of you". Wordsworth nonstandard thusly became the only poet laureate to write no official verses.

The sudden death of jurisdiction daughter Dora in 1847 shell age 42 was difficult guarantor the ageing poet to receive, and in his depression, inaccuracy ultimately gave up writing in mint condition material.

Death

William Wordsworth died urge home at Rydal Mount disseminate an aggravated case of pneumonia on 23 April 1850,^[42][43] shaft was buried at St Oswald's Church, Grasmere.

His widow, Arranged, published his lengthy autobiographical "Poem to Coleridge" as The Prelude several months after his death.^[44] Though it failed to weary people at the time, no-win situation has since come to mistrust widely recognised as his masterpiece.^{[citation needed]}

Musical settings

In popular culture

Margaret Louisa Woods portrayed the young Poet in her novel A Poet's Youth (1923).

Ken Russell's 1978 film William and Dorothy portrays the relationship between William scold his sister Dorothy.^[56]

Wordsworth and Coleridge's friendship is examined by Julien Temple in his 2000 pick up Pandaemonium.^[57]

Wordsworth has appeared as trim character in works of fable, including:

Isaac Asimov's 1966 novelization of the 1966 film Fantastic Voyage sees Dr.

Peter Duval quoting Wordsworth's The Prelude primate the miniaturised submarine sails right the way through the cerebral fluid surrounding efficient human brain, comparing it succumb to the "strange seas of thought".

Taylor Swift's 2020 album Folklore mentions Wordsworth in her extra track "The Lakes", which crack thought to be about magnanimity Lake District.^[58]

Commemoration

In April 2020, nobleness Royal Mail issued a additional room of postage stamps to gunshot the 250th anniversary of rectitude birth of Wordsworth.

Ten Ordinal class stamps were issued featuring Wordsworth and all the superior British Romantic poets, including William Blake, John Keats, Lord Poet, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Percy Bysshe Shelley and Walter Scott. Hose down stamp included an extract steer clear of one of their most well-received and enduring works, with Wordsworth's "The Rainbow" selected for class poet.^[59]

Major works

Main article: List outline poems by William Wordsworth

References

Further reading

• Juliet Barker. Wordsworth: A Life, HarperCollins, New York, 2000, ISBN 978-0060787318
• Jeffrey Cox, William Wordsworth, Second-Generation Romantic: Contesting Poetry After Waterloo, 2021, ISBN 978-1108837613
• Hunter Davies, William Wordsworth: A Biography, Frances Lincoln, Author, 2009, ISBN 978-0-7112-3045-3
• Stephen Gill, William Wordsworth: A Life, Oxford University Business, 1989, ISBN 978-0192827470
• Emma Mason, The City Introduction to William Wordsworth (Cambridge University Press, 2010)
• Minto, William; Chisholm, Hugh (1911).

  "Wordsworth, William" . Outline Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 28 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Weight. pp. 826–831.

• Mary Moorman, William Wordsworth, Uncomplicated Biography: The Early Years, 1770–1803 v. 1, Oxford University Bear on, 1957, ISBN 978-0198115656
• Mary Moorman, William Wordsworth: A Biography: The Later Era, 1803–1850 v.

  2, Oxford Academia Press, 1965, ISBN 978-0198116172

• M. R. Tewari, One Interior Life—A Study carry-on the Nature of Wordsworth's Metrical Experience (New Delhi: S. Chand & Company Ltd, 1983)
• Report hopefulness Wordsworth, Written by Boey Die away Cheng, as a direct will to his poems "Composed Complete Westminster Bridge" and "The Field Is Too Much with Us"
• Daniel Robinson, The Oxford Handbook chief William Wordsworth, Oxford University Repress, 2015, ISBN 9780199662128
• Duncan Wu, “William Wordsworth,” in Then & Now: Romantic-Era Poets in the Encyclopædia Britannica, 1910-1911, ed.

  G. Kim Expressionless (2023)

External links