Wordsworth's father was a legal representative of James Lowther, 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, 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.
Lyrical Ballads, with a Few Other Poems is a collection of poems by William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, first published in 1798 and generally considered to have marked the beginning of the English Romantic movement in literature. The immediate effect on critics was modest, but it became and remains a landmark, changing the course of English literature and poetry. Most of the poems in the 1798 edition were written by Wordsworth, with Coleridge contributing only four poems to the collection, including one of his most famous works, "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”. A second edition was published in 1800, in which Wordsworth included additional poems and a preface detailing the pair's avowed poetical principles. For another edition, published in 1802, Wordsworth added an appendix titled Poetic Diction in which he expanded the ideas set forth in the preface.
• "The Solitary Reaper”
• "Elegiac Stanzas” • "Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802” • "London, 1802” • "The World Is Too Much with Us”
• Guide to the Lakes (1810)
• Poems, in Two Volumes (1807) • "Resolution and Independence” • "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” Also known as "Daffodils"
• "My Heart Leaps Up”
• "Ode: Intimations of Immortality” • "Ode to Duty”
He said “All good poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings recollected in tranquility” and this sentence is considered as the principle of his poetry creation which was set forth in the preface to the Lyrical Ballads. Wordsworth appealed directly on individual sensations, as the foundation in the creation and appreciation of poetry.
William Wordsworth(1770-1850)
Early life of Wordsworth
The second of five children born to John Wordsworth and Ann Cookson, William Wordsworth was born on 7 April 1770 in Wordsworth House in Cockermouth, Cumberland.
He has worship for nature and he strongly praises the beauty of nature, and tries his best to awake people’s awareness of nature. He thinks people can benefits a lot from nature rather than anything else.
Features of his works
Wordsworth can penetrate to the heart of things and give the reader the very life of nature. And he thinks that common life is the only subject of literary interest. The joys and sorrows of the common people are his themes. His sympathy always goes to the suffering poor.
Major works
• Lyrical Ballads, with a Few Other Poems (1798) • "Simon Lee" • "We are Seven” • "Lines Written in Early Spring” • "Expostulation and Reply” • "The Tables Turned”
• " To the Cuckoo”
• The Excursion (1814) • Laodamia (1815, 1845)
• The White Doe of Rylstone (1815)
• Peter Bell (1819) • The Prelude (1850)
Lyrical Ballads
• "The Thorn"
• "Lines Composed A Few Miles above Tintern Abbey”
• Lyrical Ballads, with Other Poems (1800)
• Preface to the Lyrical Ballads
• "Strange fits of passion have I known” • “She Dwelt among the Untrodden Way”
• "Three years she grew"
• "A Slumber Did my Spirit Seal” • "I travelled among unknown men" • "Lucy Gray” • "The Two April Mornings" • "Solitary Reaper" • "Nutting” • "The Ruined Cottage" • "Michael" • "The Kitten At Play"
Laureateship and other honors
Wordsworth remained a formidable presence in his later years. In 1837, the Scottish poet and playwright Joanna Baillie reflected on her long acquaintance with Wordsworth. "He looks like a man that one must not speak to unless one has some sensible thing to say. however he does occasionally converse cheerfully & well; and when one knows how benevolent & excellent he is, it disposes one to be very much pleased with him." In 1838, Wordsworth received an honorary doctorate in Civil Law from the University of Durham and the following year he was awarded the same honorary degree by the University of Oxford. In 1842, the government awarded him a Civil List pension of £300 a year. Following the death of Robert Southey in 1843 Wordsworth became Poet Laureate. Wordsworth thus became the only poet laureate to write no official verses. The sudden death of his daughter Dora in 1847 at the age of only 42 was difficult for the aging poet to take and in his depression, he completely gave up writing new mateldren