The Life And Works Of Wordsworth Essay, Research Paper

In the storied history of English literature, the Romantic period is set aside as one of the greatest in terms of growth and quality. This period was spawned by a few great literary figures, among the ranks of which sulked a man named William Wordsworth. This man was a giant among the poets of this time, at least in the hearts of his admirers. His different outlook on poetry was an inspiration to many, hacks and laureates alike. To him, the whole point of poetry was for the mind of the poet and his external world to come together and yet remain different.(Daiches Vol II 878) The experiences of his life, his adherence to romantic ideals, his relationship with great literary figures, and his legacy of masterful work make this beloved English poet the greatest Romantic of all time. The formative years of a child s life are vital to the role he will play in society. Wordsworth s simple and democratic upbringing heavily influenced his view on poetry.(Daiches Vol II 876) He was born on April seventh in Cockermouth, England. The village in which he lived was in the Lake District of England, hence his title as one of the three Lake Poets along with Coleridge and Southey. His entire life was characterized by loss. His mother died when he was eight, his father followed when he was but thirteen. He began grammar school at Hawkshead in Lancashire in 1779. He would spend the next eight years there lodging with the old dame of the school, Ann Tyson. Upon graduation in 1787, he began his upper level schooling at St. John s College in Cambridge. His experiences here were quite unpleasant as he felt the push of academia to be utter drudgery. During his four year stint at St. John s, two vital things took place in his life. Being a prolific walker, Wordsworth took large scale hiking tours. A tour through the Alps in 1790 and through Wales in 1791 inspired him to publish An Evening Walk and Descriptive Sketches in 1793. Both of these were travelogues of his journeys.(http://www.usd.edu/ tgannon/txts/wordsbio.txt) The year 1792 place Wordsworth in France amidst the melee of the French Revolution. There he met Annette Vallon, whose relationship fostered him an illegitimate 3 child named Caroline. He returned to England in 1793 and began publishing his work. Later that year, a walking tour led him across the Salisbury plain to Tintern Abbey, both of which became subjects of his later poems. He was reunited with his sister Dorothy in 1794, and they were to remain together for the remainder of their lives. Towards the end of this year, they moved to Racedown Lodge, to which many great figures, such as Coleridge, were frequent guests. The fraternal pair followed Coleridge to Germany in the winter of 1798-99. This was a miserable winter for them, and the nest spring found them a Dove Cottage in Grasmere. He traveled back to France in 1802 to visit Annette and Catherine, and later that year married Mary Hutchinson. By 1810 they had produced five children. His life was still filled with the sorrow of loss as his brother John was killed in a shipwreck in 1805, an estrangement from Coleridge in 1810, and the tragic deaths of two children, Catherine and Thomas, in 1812. There was cause for celebration in 1813 as Wordsworth acquired the salaried position of Distributor of Stamps, or tax collector. He was finally able to move himself, Mary, and Dorothy to their final home Rydal Mount because of the additional income. His acceptance of this position brought about condemnation from other literary figures. Browning s quote just for a handful of silver he left us sums up the consensus feeling. By the time Wordswoth was justly famous his abilities had declined and he was no longer able to produce great poetry. In 1835, Dorothy slipped into convalescence which started a last series of losses that threw Wordsworth into a deep depression. It finally ended in 1847 when his favorite daughter, Dora, passed away. Even his appointment as Poet Laureate in 1843 could lift his spirits. He spent his last years seeming to wait only for his own demise, which finally occurred on April 23, 1850, after a bout with pleurisy. (www.usd.edu/ tgannon/txts/wordsbio.txt) One of the greatest facets of Wordsworth s literary persona is his love of 4 nature. The central interest of the Romantic movement was, in fact, nature and natural surroundings and delight in unspoiled scenery coupled with appreciation for the innocent life of rural dwellers(Clements Encarta 96). Nature played a large role in his life as this was a media through which he found some of his inspiration. In fact, some critics consider his near obsession with nature as a means of making up for the early loss of his mother, they accuse him of using it as a surrogate mother. (Http:// www.usd.edu/ tgannon/txts/wordsbio.txt) In conversations concerning the natural world, he has been quoted as saying that he, considers man and nature as essentially adapted to each other and the mind of man as naturally the mirror of the fairest and most interesting properties of nature. (Daiches Vol II 810) Wordsworth was a great follower of the Romantic ideal of simple works. To the Romantic movement, he brought a completely new approach of writing. He moved from over-stylized poetic diction to using nature, humble people, and simple incidents as subjects. (Daiches Vol II 875) He also followed the trend away from the use of the three unites of drama (time, place, and action) towards the public demand for spontaneity and lyricism. (Clements Encarta 96) Many of his works show a great appreciation for the natural world and the happiness to be found within. His poem Daffodils shows how his melancholy was lifted by a A host of dancing Daffodils. His means of finding joy was original, as was his definition of it. To him, joy was the central principal of the universe and recognition of the correspondences between the mind of man and external nature was a pleasurable experience. (Daiches Vol II 880) He continued to be the pinnacle of Romantic thought until the mid 1800 s when Romanticism began to give way to Parnissians and the symbolist movement in poetry and realism and naturalism in prose. (Clements Encarta 96) Our relationships with others forge the type of life we lead. Fortunately for Wordsworth, the bonds he created with a few people were enough to build a strong 5foundation to live his life on. While in France, he met a man named Michael Beupuy, who fostered the poets appreciation for radical politics. This political fire is spoken of in the famous Prelude. (http://www.usd.edu/ tgannon/txts/wordsbio.txt) Upon his return from France, he was reunited with one of the central figures in his life, his sister Dorothy. Two years later he became acquainted with two other writers named Southey and Coleridge. This trio was to become known as the Lake Poets. He was also greatly influenced by a philosopher named Godwin during this period. (http://www.usd.edu/ tgannon/txts/wordsbio.txt) By the end of that year, Wordsworth and Dorothy had moved to Racedown Lodge, an abode to which Coleridge was a very frequent visitor. In a short period of time, one of the strongest relationships in literary history was formed. Three years later, they move to Alfoxden to be closer to Coleridge. (http://www.usd.edu/ tgannon/txts/wordsbio.txt) Besides having a very rewarding personal relationship, Coleridge and Wordsworth had an extremely productive professional relationship. It was not uncommon for the companions to swap lines. In fact, The first stanza of We Are Seven was written by Coleridge. He also played an immeasurable role in the advancement of William Wordsworth. In his work Biographical Literature, Wordsworth relied heavily on Coleridge s advice and revised all of the poems criticized by him. (McFarland 95) He also received emotional support from Coleridge and Dorothy. When he was flung into the depths of despair by the happenings of the French Revolution, Coleridge and Dorothy led him out. (Daiches Vol II 876)

As Romantic literature progressed, imagination was praised over logic, emotions over reason, and intuition over science. (Clements Encarta 96) Wordsworth s unique views on poetry and his approaches to writing are the epitome of what Romantic ideals intended them to be. He is unique in the fact that no other has ever adhered to these beliefs with such unyielding purity. Poetry was to him what it was supposed to be to all Romantic, the record of a certain state of mind and the value of that emotion recorded. (Daiches Vol II 875) His style was influenced greatly by the ancient 6Orrmulum, written in 1200 by the Augustinian Orm. Its meter depended upon strict syllable regularity, which Wordsworth wasn t fond of, but he was partial to the ballad format of the poem. (Daiches Vol I 42) His works ranged from a plunge into the depths of his psyche to a warm walk with the daffodils. Whatever his thought, his task was not to describe it, but to clearly show its importance to the reader. (Daiches Vol II 877) It is quite clear that he had deep feelings conveyed in each of his poems, but it is doubtful if any are still felt with the intended force, or even if modern readers get the right impression. (Lipking 44) In fact, he may have felt so much, one is left wondering if he may not have been a little mad because of his constant protracted feelings. (Lipking 47) The new type of literature brought about by the Romantic age emphasized the flexibility of form as it relies on content, and allowed for a mixture of genres. (Clements Encarta 96) Although he was quite skilled in many genres, Wordsworth s genius was more suited to a type of retrospective narrative poetry as opposed to non-personal poetry. (Daiches Vol II 882) In fact, in the Preface to Lyrical Ballads, he describes poetry as the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquillity. (http://www.usd.edu/ tgannon/txts/ wordsbio.txt) One of the paramount years in his career is 1798, which is called the annus mirabilis. It gained this title because of the massive outpouring of work that occurred during this time. Probably the most important work of his career was published at this time. Lyrical Ballads was created in conjunction with Coleridge and actually gave rise to the Romantic revolt. It was criticized at first because of its low subject matter and crude language. (http://www.usd.edu/ tgannon/txts/wordsbio.txt) Wordsworth wrote and advertisement to the first edition of Lyrical Ballads, stating that the poems were experiments to ascertain how far the language of conversation in the middle and lower classes is adapted to the purposes of poetic pleasure. (Daiches Vol II 877) One of his most popular, if not technically superior works is We Are Seven. 7 He was inspired to write this poem by a little girl he met while walking around Goodrich Castle. He was impressed that the little girl ignored evidence of physical mortality and believed that the spirit triumphed over death. Five years after the incident, he and Coleridge collaborated on a volume of poems dealing with the supernatural. He remembered the little girl and composed the poem about her in his grove at home, beginning with the last line first. (Woods 284) It is clear that the life of a poet is complicated. It could be said that the greatest writing has come of the greatest pain. The emotions that coursed around in the soul of William Wordsworth enabled him to leave a legacy of great poetry. He is one of the many great writers who have come and gone throughout English history. They have all been molded by the hands of fate and time into their own literary entities. Because of experiences that shaped him, Wordsworth is among the greatest of them all. 8 William Wordsworth as a Great RomanticScott Randolph AP EnglishMcKinneyMay 13, 19981,955 words William Wordsworth as a Great Romantic I. There are many things that make Wordsworth a geat Romantic.II. His life experiences are one factor of his greatness. A.His life was shaped by his childhoo. B. His life as an adult was filled with great loss and triumph.III. His role as a Romantic enhanced his greatness. A. He possessed a great love of nature. B. He wanted his works to reflect simplicity.IV. His relationships made him a great writer and person. A. His relationship with Coleridge enhanced his own ablilities. B. His love of his sister Dorothy was an inspiration.V. His works leave a lasting legacy of greatness. A. He had unique feelings and approaches to poetry. B. The inspirations behind and methods of his writings made him a great poet.VI. All of these factor make Wordsworth a great Romantic. 2 Works Citied Clements, Robert J. Romanticism (Literature). Microsoft Encarta 96 Daiches, David. A Critical History of English Literature Vol. I. New York: The Ronald Press Company, 1960. Daiches, David. A Critical History of English Literature Vol.II. New York: The Ronald Press Company, 1960. http://www.usd.edu/ tgannon?txts/wordsbio.txt. Lipking, Lawrence, ed. High Romantic Argument. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1981. McFarland, Thomas. Romanticism and the Forms of Ruin. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1981. Woods, Ralph L. Famous Poems and the Little Known Stories Behind Them. New York: Hawthorne Books Inc., 1966. 9