William Wordsworth was a major English Romantic poet who, along with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with the publication of their joint poetry collection, "Lyrical Ballads," in 1798. Born in 1770 in Cockermouth, England, Wordsworth was the second of five children of John Wordsworth and Ann Cookson.
Wordsworth's early life was marked by tragedy and upheaval. His mother died when he was eight years old, and his father, who was a lawyer, died when Wordsworth was 13. As a result, he and his siblings were sent to live with their uncle in the Lake District, a region in northwest England that would later inspire much of Wordsworth's poetry.
Wordsworth was educated at Hawkshead Grammar School and St. John's College, Cambridge, where he studied classical literature and developed an interest in poetry. After leaving Cambridge, he traveled throughout Europe, spending time in France, Switzerland, and Italy. It was during this time that he developed a deep appreciation for the beauty of nature and the power of the imagination.
Wordsworth is best known for his poetry, which often focused on the beauty of nature and the emotional experiences of ordinary people. In "Lyrical Ballads," he and Coleridge sought to revolutionize the way poetry was written and read, rejecting the formal, overly ornate style that was popular at the time in favor of a more natural, expressive style that sought to capture the essence of human emotions and experiences.
One of Wordsworth's most famous poems, "Tintern Abbey," is a reflection on the beauty and power of nature, and the ways in which it can enrich and enrich the human spirit. In the poem, Wordsworth writes about returning to the Wye Valley, a place he had visited five years earlier, and finding that the beauty of the place had only deepened and grown more powerful over time. He writes, "I have felt / A presence that disturbs me with the joy / Of elevated thoughts; a sense sublime / Of something far more deeply interfused, / Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns, / And the round ocean and the living air, / And the blue sky, and in the mind of man."
Throughout his career, Wordsworth was a vocal advocate for the rights and well-being of the working class and the poor. In poems such as "The Prelude," he writes about the importance of social justice and the need for reform. In "The Excursion," a long, philosophical poem about the nature of human happiness and fulfillment, Wordsworth explores the idea that true happiness can only be found through a connection with nature and the divine.
Wordsworth's work had a significant influence on the Romantic movement and on literature more generally. His poetry was widely read and admired during his lifetime, and his ideas about the importance of nature and the imagination continue to be influential to this day. Wordsworth's poetry is notable for its simplicity and its focus on the beauty and power of nature, as well as its celebration of the human spirit and the capacity for emotional depth and understanding.
