WilliamWordswort

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WilliamWordswort

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1770-1850

"I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze."

                              

Early LifeEarly Life• Born April 7, 1770• Second of 5 children• Father a law agent

for a lord so family was well off

• Mother died in 1778 (Children separated)

• Father died in 1783• Began writing verse

when attending Hawkshead Grammar School

The Wordsworth House

The Wordsworth House

Today Wordsworth’s childhood home is a popular tourist attraction. The fine Georgian home has been restored and refurnished to its original 18th century beauty.

The Wordsworth House

The Wordsworth House

Wordsworth refers to his home at Cockermouth in his poem, Guilt and Sorrow:

XXIV "A little croft we owned - a plot of corn,

A garden stored with peas, and mint, and thyme, And flowers for poises, oft on Sunday morn Plucked while the church bells rang their earliest chime.Can I forget our freaks at shearing time! My hen's rich nest through long grass scarce espied; The cowslip-gathering in June's dewy prime; The swans that with white chests upreared in pride Rushing and racing came to meet me at the waterside."

Wordsworth refers to his home at Cockermouth in his poem, Guilt and Sorrow:

XXIV "A little croft we owned - a plot of corn,

A garden stored with peas, and mint, and thyme, And flowers for poises, oft on Sunday morn Plucked while the church bells rang their earliest chime.Can I forget our freaks at shearing time! My hen's rich nest through long grass scarce espied; The cowslip-gathering in June's dewy prime; The swans that with white chests upreared in pride Rushing and racing came to meet me at the waterside."

Wordsworth in NatureWordsworth in Nature

The beautiful landscape of the Lake District inspired the young Wordsworth; nature is a common theme

that can be found in many of his poems.

The beautiful landscape of the Lake District inspired the young Wordsworth; nature is a common theme

that can be found in many of his poems.

The Rainbow

My heart leaps up when I behold A rainbow in the sky:

So was it when my life began; So is it now I am a man;

So be it when I shall grow old, Or let me die!

The Child is father of the Man; I could wish my days to be

Bound each to each by natural piety.

The Middle YearsThe Middle Years1790-Takes a “walking tour” of Europe (Italy,

Switzerland, France) visiting places known for the beauty of the landscape

1791-Graduates from Cambridge University1791-Visits France/captivated by the

revolutionary ideas/solidifies ideas about “the common man”

1792-Daughter, Caroline, born to his French lover, Annette Vallon

1793-Reign of Terror changes his feelings towards revolution/War with England causes him to leave France/Doesn’t see Annette or Caroline again for many years

1790-Takes a “walking tour” of Europe (Italy, Switzerland, France) visiting places known for the beauty of the landscape

1791-Graduates from Cambridge University1791-Visits France/captivated by the

revolutionary ideas/solidifies ideas about “the common man”

1792-Daughter, Caroline, born to his French lover, Annette Vallon

1793-Reign of Terror changes his feelings towards revolution/War with England causes him to leave France/Doesn’t see Annette or Caroline again for many years

Early WorksEarly Works

In 1793, Wordsworth’s first works, An Evening Walkand Descriptive Sketches, were published butreceived little notice.

“Where, bosom'd deep, the shy Winander peepsMid' clust'ring isles, and holly-sprinkl'd steeps;Where twilight glens endear my Esthwaite's shore,And memory of departed pleasures, more.”

From An Evening Walk

“We Were Three Persons With One

Soul.” “We Were Three Persons With One

Soul.” 1794-Reunited with his sister,

Dorothy.Dorothy lives with

William for the rest of her life.

Met Samuel Taylor Coleridge, also a poet.

They became close friends.They work together to

create and publish poetry

1794-Reunited with his sister,

Dorothy.Dorothy lives with

William for the rest of her life.

Met Samuel Taylor Coleridge, also a poet.

They became close friends.They work together to

create and publish poetry

Lyrical BalladsLyrical BalladsWordsworth and Coleridge saw the poetry ofthe Neo-classical period as stale and un-relatable to the public. The two poets initiated the Romantic era with their collaborative creation, Lyrical Ballads, which contained old themes and new subjects.

Lyrical BalladsLyrical BalladsOld forms

broughtback to poetry:Nursery Rhyme 

Biblical/ScripturalBallad

New forms forpoetry:

Children and womenCommon folks and

peasantsThe importance of

ImaginationNature as a manifestation

of GodEveryday language of men

Quote from Lyrical BalladsQuote from Lyrical Ballads

"Poetry is the breath and finerspirit of all knowledge; it is the

impassioned expression which is inthe countenance of all Science.“

William Wordsworth

Later YearsLater YearsIn 1802,

Wordsworthmarried Mary

Hutchinson in theBrompton Church.

She was theinspiration for hispoem, “She Was A

Phantom of Delight.”

In 1802,Wordsworth

married MaryHutchinson in theBrompton Church.

She was theinspiration for hispoem, “She Was A

Phantom of Delight.”

“She was a Phantom of delightWhen first she gleamed upon my

sight;A lovely Apparition, sent

To be a moment's ornament;Her eyes as stars of Twilight fair;

Like Twilight's, too, her dusky hair;”

“She was a Phantom of delightWhen first she gleamed upon my

sight;A lovely Apparition, sent

To be a moment's ornament;Her eyes as stars of Twilight fair;

Like Twilight's, too, her dusky hair;”

Wordsworth in SorrowWordsworth in SorrowWordsworth in SorrowWordsworth in SorrowBy 1810 they had

five children;however, the death of two of

their children in1812 caused

Wordsworth greatsorrow. His poem,

“Surprised ByJoy,” reflects his

anguish.

By 1810 they hadfive children;however, the death of two of

their children in1812 caused

Wordsworth greatsorrow. His poem,

“Surprised ByJoy,” reflects his

anguish.

““……That thought's return That thought's return

Was the worst pang that sorrow ever bore,Was the worst pang that sorrow ever bore,

Save one, one only, when I stood forlorn,Save one, one only, when I stood forlorn,

Knowing my heart's best treasure was no Knowing my heart's best treasure was no more;more;

That neither present time, nor years That neither present time, nor years unbornunborn

Could to my sight that heavenly face Could to my sight that heavenly face restore.restore.””

• Wordsworth and his family settled at Rydal Mount

• He continued to write poetry for the remainder of his life.

• In 1843, he became England’s poet laureate.

• He died on April 23, 1850• Buried at St Oswald's

Church in Grasmere.

ConclusionConclusionWordsworth's emotional power made him

famous and influential. Defined poetry as "the spontaneous overflow

of powerful feelings arising from emotionrecollected in tranquility.”He refused to conform to the “rules” of the

Neoclassic period. Put passion together with plain language and

meter and that is great poetry says Wordsworth

Romanticized nature and the common man who he believed were not “corrupted” by city life

 "Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting: The soul that rises with us, our life's star, Hath had elsewhere its setting, And cometh from afar. Not in entire forgetfulness, And not in utter nakedness, But trailing clouds of glory, do we come From God, who is our home."

 "Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting: The soul that rises with us, our life's star, Hath had elsewhere its setting, And cometh from afar. Not in entire forgetfulness, And not in utter nakedness, But trailing clouds of glory, do we come From God, who is our home."

From Intimations of Immortality

Works Citedhttp://www.wordsworthclassics.com/cov/poet/1840225351.jpg

http://www.houseofplum.com/gallery/Rainbow_in_Mist_2.jpg

http://www.holycross.edu/departments/english/rmatlak/ww7.jpg

http://www.thetalisman.org.uk/tintern/dwhires.jpg

http://www.underthesun.cc/pictures/Coleridge,Samuel.jpg

http://www.underthesun.cc/pictures/Wordsworth.jpg

http://www.wga.hu/art/h/haydon/wordswor.jpg

http://www.noctua-graphics.de/images/download/tex/sky/sky08.jpg

Works Citedhttp://www.wordsworthhouse.org.uk/

http://www.cockermouth.org.uk/

http://www.lakedistrictletsgo.co.uk/attractions/attractions

_pages/wordsworthhouse.html

http://www.nlu.edu/~eller/men/focus/lyricals/collab.htm

http://www.visitcumbria.com/wilword.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Wordsworth

http://www.island-of-freedom.com/WORDSWOR.HTM