Beside the brook Appears a struggling heap of unhewn stones! And to that simple object appertains A story-unenriched with strange events Yet not unfit, I deem, for the fireside, 20 Or for the summer shade. 5 But, courage! for around that boisterous brook The mountains have all opened out themselves And made a hidden valley of their own No habitation can be seen but they Who journey thither find themselves alone 10 With a few sheep, with rocks and stones, and kites That overhead are sailing in the sky It is in truth an utter solitude Nor should I have made mention of this Dell But for one object which you might pass by, 15 Might see and notice not. William Wordsworth died at Rydal Mount on April 23, 1850, leaving his wife, Mary, to publish The Prelude three months later.If from the public way you turn your steps Up the tumultuous brook of Greenhead Ghyll You will suppose that with an upright path Your feet must struggle in such bold ascent The pastoral mountains front you, face to face. Devastated by the death of his daughter, Dora, in 1847, Wordsworth seemingly lost his will to compose poems. Wordsworth spent his final years settled at Rydal Mount in England, traveling, and continuing his outdoor excursions. Although Wordsworth worked on The Prelude throughout his life, the poem was published posthumously. The poem, revised numerous times, chronicles the spiritual life of the poet and marks the birth of a new genre of poetry. Wordsworth’s most famous work, The Prelude (Edward Moxon, 1850), is considered by many to be the crowning achievement of English Romanticism. In the preface Wordsworth writes on the need for “common speech” within poems and argues against the hierarchy of the period which valued epic poetry above the lyric. While the poems themselves are some of the most influential in Western literature, it is the preface to the second edition that remains one of the most important testaments to a poet’s views on both his craft and his place in the world. It was with Coleridge that Wordsworth published the famous Lyrical Ballads (J. In 1812, while living in Grasmere, two of their children-Catherine and John-died.Įqually important in the poetic life of Wordsworth was his 1795 meeting with the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Later that year, he married Mary Hutchinson, a childhood friend, and they had five children together. In 1802, he returned to France with his sister on a four-week visit to meet Caroline. While living in France, Wordsworth conceived a daughter, Caroline, out of wedlock he left France, however, before she was born. Wordsworth’s earliest poetry was published in 1793 in the collections An Evening Walk and Descriptive Sketches. This experience, as well as a subsequent period living in France, brought about Wordsworth’s interest and sympathy for the life, troubles, and speech of the “common man.” These issues proved to be of the utmost importance to Wordsworth’s work. While touring Europe, Wordsworth came into contact with the French Revolution. ![]() John’s College in Cambridge and, before his final semester, he set out on a walking tour of Europe-an experience that influenced both his poetry and his political sensibilities. ![]() After Hawkshead, Wordsworth studied at St. While he was at Hawkshead, Wordsworth’s father died leaving him and his four siblings orphans. Wordsworth attended Hawkshead Grammar School, where his love of poetry was firmly established and, it is believed, where he made his first attempts at verse. Wordsworth’s mother died when he was eight-this experience shapes much of his later work. William Wordsworth was born in Cockermouth, Cumbria, England, on April 7, 1770.
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