WHO WAS WILLIAM

WORDSWORTH ?

Presented by:-Agnee

Where It All BeganWHO WAS HE ???

William Wordsworth is one of the most important English poets and a founder of the Romantic Movement of English literature, a style of writing that focuses on emotion and imagination . Wordsworth became known as a 'Lakeland Poet' because of the area where he lived, which is renowned for its beautiful, wild landscapes, charming pastures, and countless lakes. He was often called a 'nature poet' because of his emphasis on the connection between humans and the natural world. He became widely successful and was named poet laureate of England in 1843.

HIS LIFEWilliam Wordsworth was the second of five children born to John Wordsworth and Ann Cookson, William Wordsworth was born on 7 April 1770 in WordsworthHouse in Cockermouth, Cumberland, part of the scenic region in northwestern England known as the Lake District. His sister, the poet and diarist Dorothy Wordsworth, to whom he was close all his life, was born the following year, and the two were baptised together. They had three other siblings: Richard, the eldest, who became a lawyer; John, born after Dorothy, who went to sea and died in 1805 when the ship of which he was Master, the Earl of Abergavenny, was wrecked off the south coast of England; and Christopher, the youngest, who entered the Church and rose to be Master of Trinity College, Cambridge.

Wordsworth's father was a legal representative of JamesLowther,1st Earl of Lonsdale and, through his connections, lived in a large mansion in the small town. He was frequently away from home on business, so the young William and his siblings had little involvement with him and remained distant from him until his death in 1783. However, he did encourage William in his reading, and in particular set him to commit to memory large portions of verse, including works by Milton, Shakespeare and Spenser. William was also allowed to use his father's library. William also spent time at his mother's parents' house in Penrith, Cumberland, where he was exposed to the moors, but did not get along with his grandparents or his uncle, who also lived there. His hostile interactions with them distressed him to the point of contemplating suicide.

WORDSWORTH 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.

EARLY WORKSHis Early WorksIn 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

Mr. and Mrs. Wordsworth

In 1802,

Wordsworth

married Mary

Hutchinson in the

Brompton Church.

She was the

inspiration for his

poem, “She Was A

Phantom of Delight.”

'The Solitary Reaper' was written on November 5, 1805 and published in 1807 in the collection Poems, in Two Volumes. This poem is unique because, while most of Wordsworth's work is based closely on his own experiences, 'The Solitary Reaper' is based on the experience of someone else: author and friend Thomas Wilkinson, as described in his Tours to the British Mountains.

The poem, like most of Wordsworth's poetry, is distinguished by its straightforward use of language and meter as well as its natural theme and imagery. It reflects Wordsworth's belief in the importance of the natural world, the power of memory and the human mind, and his first principle of poetry: that poetry should be written to provide pleasure through a rhythmic and powerful expression of emotion and leave readers with 'a spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings' long after it is read.

“The best portion of a good man's life: his little, nameless unremembered acts of kindness and

love.”

-WILLIAM

WORDSWORTH

It was Wordsworth's emotional power, rather thanhis range of intellect, that made him famous and

influential. He defined poetry as "the spontaneousoverflow of powerful feelings arising from "emotion

recollected in tranquility." To him, poetry was anoverflowing of emotion onto paper backed up by

the refusal to conform to the “rules” of society. Thisbelief, along with his inspirations, allowed his

talent and emotions to run free.