As a “worshipper of nature”, Wordsworth is most celebrated for his poetry of nature. He provides readers with accurate truthful representation of the natural objects by describing the bird, flowers, wind, trees and the rivers just as they are. To him nature means more than rivers, trees, rocks, mountains, lakes, and so. Nature has a moral value and has its philosophical significance. Nature is the greatest of all teachers, and those who are uncorrupted by urban society, especially those simple rustic people, can communicate directly with nature which gives them power, peace and happiness.
Wordsworth thinks that common life is the only subject of literary interest. The joys and sorrows of the common people are their themes. His sympathy always goes to the suffering poor In these poems, we can see Wordsworth sticks to his poetic theory by treating the simple life, simple emotion of the rustic folk in a “selection of language really used by men”. That’s to say, the language of the poetry ought to be as natural, direct as the language of a simple farmer.
Lyrical Ballads
Wordsworth in his preface to Lyrical Ballads describes good poetry as “the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings, it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility” (诗歌是强烈感 情的自然流露，来自恬静中回想的感情). In other words, true poetry conceived in spontaneous emotion, takes on meaning and the shape as the poet contemplates the subject.
In these poems, he skillfully combines natural description with the expression of inward states of mind, showing the powerful and purifying effect of nature upon his thought and emotions. By communicating with nature, we can gather wisdom and truth from it. “I wandered Lonely as a Cloud”, “An evening Walk”, “My Heart Leaps Up” and “Tintern Abbey” are all masterpieces on nature.
William Wordsworth 1770---1850
Leader of romantic movement
1) His childhood and youth from 1770--1787
Wordsworth was born and grew up near the Lake District, the beautiful scenic spot in northwest England. The natural beauty and grandeur of this area was a major source of inspiration for Wordsworth throughout his life. He was sent to school at Hawkshead after the death of his mother. He loved to spend his free time roaming about the countryside and getting to know the country people. The memories of these years were transferred into his magnificent verses later.
2) A period of storm and stress: (1787---1797)
When he was 13, his father died. He left a considerable sum of money to his children. So Wordsworth was able to attend Cambridge University in 1787, where he found little in the formal university curriculum to interest him. In 1791, he went on a walking tour of France. At that time,the French Revolution was then at its peak and exercised a strong influence on his mind. Wordsworth became enthusiastic with the revolution. He hoped that France might lead the way to a new and more just society.
A long period of retirement (1807---1850)
In his later years, Wordsworth’s revolutionary enthusiasm faded. He then retired to the northern lake district. He lived in seclusion for a full half century. His literary power declined, but his fame as a poet gradually became so widespread that he was named Poet Laureate of England in 1843.
3) A significant period of his poetic creation 1797---1807 In 1797 Wordsworth was introduced to Coleridge. They became close friends. Their friendship is one of the most important and fruitful friendships in English literature. From then on, the two poets lived together and collaborated with each other and devoted to writing poetry. Most of important poems were produced in this period.
His Poetic Point of View
Poetic truth: the source of poetic truth is the direct experience of the senses. Poetry should express the poet’s mind. Purifying effect: he thinks of nature as something that can have a purifying effect on the moral sense of the person who contemplates it. Harmony between man and nature: there is a fittingness between man and nature, a unity between himself and the nature that surrounds him.
Most important ones are “Lucy Poems”, which describe a young country girl living a simple life in a remote village far from the civilized world. They are verses of love and loss which hold within their delicate simplicity a meditation on time and death which rises to universal stature. They are a series of pathetic lyrics on the theme of harmony between humanity and nature.