introduction to william wordsworth

8/7/2019 Introduction to William Wordsworth

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Introduction to WilliamWordsworth


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William Wordsworth:

y William Wordsworth (7April 1770 -23 April 1850)was a major English

Romantic poet who, withSamuel Taylor Coleridge,helped to launch theRomantic Age in Englishliterature with the 1798joint publication LyricalBallads.


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William WordsWorth:y He refused to abide the by

any poetic conventions andrules and forged his ownway in the realm of poetry.

y

Wordsworth wrote a large ofsonnets and poems andvariety of lyricism by whichhe can stir the deepestemotions in very simplemanner.

y Wordsworth was not just alyrical poet; he justly claimto be the poet of man,nature and human life.


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Early Life:

y Wordsworth's father was aLegal Representativeinthe government , although

rarely present, did teachhim poetry, like of Milton,Shakespeare and Spenser,in addition to allowing hisson to rely on his ownfather's library.


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Debut:y Wordsworth made his debut as a

writer in 1787 when he publisheda sonnet in The EuropeanMagazine. That same year hebegan attending St John'sCollege, Cambridge, and receivedhis B.A. degree in 1791. Hereturned to Hawks head for hisfirst two summer holidays, andoften spent later holidays onwalking tours, visiting placesfamous for the beauty of theirlandscape. In 1790, he took awalking tour of Europe, duringwhich he toured the Alpsextensively, and visited nearbyareas of France, Switzerland, andItaly.


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First publication and LyricalBallads

y In his "Preface to LyricalBallads", which is called the"manifesto" of English

Romantic criticism, Wordsworthcalls his poems "experimental."The year 1793 sawWordsworth's first publishedpoetry with the collections An

Evening Walkand DescriptiveSketches. He received a legacyof 900 from Raisley Calvert in1795 so that he could pursuewriting poetry.


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French Revolution:

y The French Revolution(French: Rvolutionfranaise; 178999)

was a period of radicalsocial and politicalupheaval in French andEuropean history.

y The absolute monarchythat had ruled Francefor centuries collapsedin three years.


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French Revolution:

yOld ideas abouthierarchy andtradition succumbedto newEnlightenmentprinciples of

citizenship andinalienable rights.


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Relationship with AnnetteVallon

y In November 1791,Wordsworth visited

Revolutionary Franceand became enthralledwith the Republicanmovement. He fell in

love with a Frenchwoman, Annette Vallon,who in 1792 gave birthto their child, Caroline


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Video:


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Death

y William Wordsworth diedby re-aggravating a caseof pleurisy on 23 April1850, and was buried atSt. Oswald's church in

Grasmere. His widowMary published hislengthy autobiographical"poem to Coleridge" asThe Prelude severalmonths after his death.Though this failed toarouse great interest in1850, it has since cometo be recognized as hismasterpiece.


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The world is too much with us

THE world is too much with us: late and soon,

Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers:

Little we see in Nature that is ours;

We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!

This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon;

The winds that will be howling at all hours,And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers;

For this, for everything, we are out of tune;

It moves us not. -- Great God! I'd rather be

A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn;

So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;

Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;

Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn.


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THEME

y In this poem William Wordsworthcriticizes the world of the firstindustrial revolution for being

absorbed in the materialism anddistancing itself from the nature.

y In the 19th century Wordsworth

wrote several sonnets blastingwhat he perceived as decadentmaterial cynicism of the time.


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Theme:

y The world is too much with us isone of those works. It reflects hisphilosophy that humanity must get

in touch with nature in order toprogress spiritually.

introduction to william wordsworth

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