Biography of english poet william wordsworth poems

As he grew older, Wordsworth began to reject radicalism. In , he was named as a distributor of stamps and moved his family to a new home in the Lake District. By , Wordsworth was an ardent supporter of the conservative Tories. Though Wordsworth continued to produce poetry — including moving work that mourned the deaths of two of his children in — he had reached a zenith of creativity between and It was this early work that cemented his reputation as an acclaimed literary figure.

In , Wordsworth became England's poet laureate, a position he held for the rest of his life. We strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us! Prince Harry. He had already become strongly influenced by his natural surroundings whilst staying at Penrith, choosing to wander away from his sad and stifling family life and embracing the natural world instead.

However it had an important effect on challenging his ideas and evolving attitudes to life. In his final summer as a Cambridge student, he decided to tour the Alps with his friend Robert Jones. Departing from Dover in July , the two young men set off on a walking tour of Europe, an experience which would influence his literary work as well as his political and social conscience.

Whilst living in France, Wordsworth became increasingly aware of social issues affecting everyday men and women. The context of the French Revolution and the rise of democratic values based around equality were concepts which would influence him. His travels also had an impact on his personal life, conceiving a daughter called Caroline in France.

Leaving before her birth, he would later return to France in with his sister to meet her. He would continue to travel, finding further inspiration for his poetry. In , Wordsworth moved from Grasmere to nearby Ambelside. He continued to write poetry, but it was never as great as his early works. After , he wrote little more. In , he was given a government pension and the following year became poet laureate.

Wordsworth died on 23 April and was buried in Grasmere churchyard. His great autobiographical poem, 'The Prelude', which he had worked on since , was published after his death. Search term:. Read more. This religious conservatism also colours The Excursion , a long poem that became extremely popular during the nineteenth century. It features three central characters: the Wanderer, the Solitary, who has experienced the hopes and miseries of the French Revolution , and the Pastor, who dominates the last third of the poem.

Behler [ 35 ] has pointed out the fact that Wordsworth wanted to invoke the basic feeling that a human heart possesses and expresses. He had reversed the philosophical standpoint expressed by his friend S. Coleridge , of 'creating the characters in such an environment so that the public feels them belonging to the distant place and time'. And this philosophical realisation by Wordsworth indeed allowed him to choose the language and structural patterning of the poetry that a common person used every day.

William Wordsworth has used conversation in his poetry to let the poet 'I' merge into 'We'. The poem "Farewell" exposes the identical emotion that the poet and his sister nourish:. This kind of conversational tone persists throughout the poet's poetic journey, which positions him as a man in society who speaks to the purpose of communion with the very common mass of that society.

Wordsworth remained a formidable presence in his later years. In , the Scottish poet and playwright Joanna Baillie reflected on her long acquaintance with Wordsworth. The following year he was awarded the same honorary degree by the University of Oxford, when John Keble praised him as the "poet of humanity", praise greatly appreciated by Wordsworth.

He initially refused the honour, saying that he was too old, but accepted when the Prime Minister, Robert Peel , assured him that "you shall have nothing required of you". Wordsworth thus became the only poet laureate to write no official verses. The sudden death of his daughter Dora in at age 42 was difficult for the ageing poet to take, and in his depression, he ultimately gave up writing new material.

William Wordsworth died at home at Rydal Mount from an aggravated case of pleurisy on 23 April , [ 42 ] [ 43 ] and was buried at St Oswald's Church, Grasmere. His widow, Mary, published his lengthy autobiographical "Poem to Coleridge" as The Prelude several months after his death. Ken Russell 's film William and Dorothy portrays the relationship between William and his sister Dorothy.

Wordsworth and Coleridge's friendship is examined by Julien Temple in his film Pandaemonium. Isaac Asimov 's novelisation of the film Fantastic Voyage sees Dr. Peter Duval quoting Wordsworth's The Prelude as the miniaturised submarine sails through the cerebral fluid surrounding a human brain, comparing it to the "strange seas of thought".

Taylor Swift 's album Folklore mentions Wordsworth in her bonus track " The Lakes ", which is thought to be about the Lake District. In April , the Royal Mail issued a series of postage stamps to mark the th anniversary of the birth of Wordsworth. Each stamp included an extract from one of their most popular and enduring works, with Wordsworth's " The Rainbow " selected for the poet.

Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read Edit View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikimedia Commons Wikiquote Wikisource Wikidata item. This is the latest accepted revision , reviewed on 23 January English Romantic poet — For other uses, see Wordsworth disambiguation. For the English composer, see William Wordsworth composer.

Anonymous portrait of Wordsworth, c. Mary Hutchinson. Early life [ edit ]. Family and education [ edit ]. Main article: Early life of William Wordsworth. Relationship with Annette Vallon [ edit ]. Early career [ edit ]. First publication and Lyrical Ballads [ edit ]. From the "We Are Seven" poem [ 11 ]. The Borderers [ edit ]. Germany and move to the Lake District [ edit ].

Married life [ edit ].

Biography of english poet william wordsworth poems

Later career [ edit ]. Autobiographical work and Poems, in Two Volumes [ edit ]. The Prospectus [ edit ]. Religious and philosophical beliefs [ edit ]. Wordsworth's poetic philosophy [ edit ]. Laureateship and other honours [ edit ]. Death [ edit ]. Musical settings [ edit ].