Assignment on Wordsworth's life and some of his best work
Name : Hetal chauhan M.
Roll no.: 13
Paper no. 5: Romantic Literature
Unit no: 4
Enrolment no: 2069108420180008
Class : Sem- 2/ 2018
Email Id: hetalchauhan137@gmail.com
Submitted to: M. K. U. B, Department
of English.
Word count :2832
WilliamWordsworth's life :
At the end
of the 18th century, poet William Wordsworth helped found the Romantic movement
in English literature. He also wrote "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud."
Wordsworth's
magnum opus is generally considered to be The Prelude, a semi-autobiographical
poem of his early years that he revised and expanded a number of times. It was
posthumously titled and published, before which it was generally known as
"the poem to Coleridge".[1] Wordsworth was Britain's poet laureate
from 1843 until his death from pleurisy on 23 April 1850.[2]
Born in
England in 1770, poet William Wordsworth worked with Samuel Taylor Coleridge on
Lyrical Ballads (1798). The collection, which contained Wordsworth's
"Tintern Abbey," introduced Romanticism to English poetry. Wordsworth
also showed his affinity for nature with the famous poem "I Wandered
Lonely as a Cloud." He became England's poet laureate in 1843, a role he
held until his death in 1850.
Poet William
Wordsworth was born on April 7, 1770, in Cockermouth, Cumberland, England.
Wordsworth’s mother died when he was 7, and he was an orphan at 13. Despite
these losses, he did well at Hawkshead Grammar School—where he wrote his first
poetry—and went on to study at Cambridge University. He did not excel there,
but managed to graduate in 1791. In the late 1790s, William Wordsworth was
thought to be a French spy and was surveilled by a government agent.
Wordsworth
had visited France in 1790—in the midst of the French Revolution—and was a supporter
of the new government’s republican ideals. On a return trip to France the next
year, he fell in love with Annette Vallon, who became pregnant. However, the
declaration of war between England and France in 1793 separated the two. Left
adrift and without income in England, Wordsworth was influenced by radicals
such as William Godwin.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, so the
young William and his siblings had little involvement with him and remained
distant from him until his death in 1783.[5] 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. William was also
allowed to use his father's library. William also spent time at his mother's
parents' house in Penrith, Cumberland, where he was exposed to the moors, but
did not get along with his grandparents or his uncle, who also lived there. His
hostile interactions with them distressed him to the point of contemplating
suicide.[6]
Wordsworth
was taught to read by his mother and attended, first, a tiny school of low
quality in Cockermouth, then a school in Penrith for the children of
upper-class families, where he was taught by Ann Birkett, who insisted on
instilling in her students traditions that included pursuing both scholarly and
local activities, especially the festivals around Easter, May Day and Shrove
Tuesday. Wordsworth was taught both the Bible and the Spectator, but little
else. It was at the school in Penrith that he met the Hutchinsons, including
Mary, who later became his wife.[7]
After the
death of his mother, in 1778, Wordsworth's father sent him to Hawkshead Grammar
School in Lancashire (now in Cumbria) and sent Dorothy to live with relatives
in Yorkshire. She and William did not meet again for another nine years.
Wordsworth
made his debut as a writer in 1787 when he published a sonnet in The European
Magazine. That same year he began attending St John's College, Cambridge. He
received his BA degree in 1791. He returned to Hawkshead for the first two
summers of his time at Cambridge, and often spent later holidays on walking
tours, visiting places famous for the beauty of their landscape. In 1790 he
went on a walking tour of Europe, during which he toured the Alps extensively,
and visited nearby areas of France, Switzerland, and Italy.[9]
vYoung Poet:
In 1795,
Wordsworth received an inheritance that allowed him to live with his younger
sister, Dorothy. That same year, Wordsworth met Samuel Taylor Coleridge. The
two became friends, and together worked on Lyrical Ballads (1798). The volume
contained poems such as Coleridge's
"Rime
of the Ancient Mariner" and Wordsworth's "Tintern Abbey," and
helped Romanticism take hold in English poetry.
The same
year that Lyrical Ballads was published, Wordsworth began writing The Prelude,
an epic autobiographical poem that he would revise throughout his life (it was
published posthumously in 1850). While working on The Prelude, Wordsworth
produced other poetry, such as "Lucy." He also wrote a preface for
the second edition of Lyrical Ballads; it described his poetry as being
inspired by powerful emotions and would come to be seen as a declaration of
Romantic principles."Though nothing can bring back the hour, Of splendour
in the grass, of glory in the flower." -- from Intimations of Immortality
from Recollections of Early Childhood
In 1802, a
temporary lull in fighting between England and France meant that Wordsworth was
able to see Vallon and their daughter, Caroline. After returning to England, he
wed Mary Hutchinson, who gave birth to the first of their five children in
1803. Wordsworth was also still writing poetry, including the famous "I
Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" and "Ode: Intimations of
Immortality." These pieces were published in another Wordsworth
collection, Poems, in Two Volumes (1807).
Evolving
Poetry and Philosophy:
As he grew
older, Wordsworth began to reject radicalism. In 1813, he was named as a
distributor of stamps and moved his family to a new home in the Lake District.
By 1818, 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 1812—he had reached a zenith of creativity
between 1798 and 1808. It was this early work that cemented his reputation as
an acclaimed literary figure.
In 1843,
Wordsworth became England's poet laureate, a position he held for the rest of
his life. At the age of 80, he died on April 23, 1850, at his home in Rydal
Mount, Westmorland, England.
v
Major work:
Lyrical
Ballads, with a Few Other Poems (1798)
"Simon
Lee"
"We are
Seven"
"Lines
Written in Early Spring"
"Expostulation
and Reply"
"The
Tables Turned"
"The
Thorn"
"Lines
Composed A Few Miles above Tintern Abbey"
Lyrical
Ballads, with Other Poems (1800)[dubious ]
Preface to
the Lyrical Ballads
"Three
years she grew"[32]
"A
Slumber Did my Spirit Seal"[32]
"I
travelled among unknown men"[32]
"Lucy
Gray"
Poems, in
Two Volumes (1807)
"Resolution
and Independence"
"I
Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" Also known as "Daffodils"
""Ode:
Intimations of Immortality"
"Ode to
Duty"
"The
Solitary Reaper"
"London,
1802"
First
publication and Lyrical Ballads:
The year
1793 saw the first publication of poems by Wordsworth, in the collections An
Evening Walk and Descriptive Sketches. In 1795 he received a legacy of 900
pounds from Raisley Calvert and became able to pursue a career as a poet.
It was also
in 1795 that he met Samuel Taylor Coleridge in Somerset. The two poets quickly
developed a close friendship. In 1797, Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy moved
to Alfoxton House, Somerset, just a few miles away from Coleridge's home in
Nether Stowey. Together Wordsworth and Coleridge (with insights from Dorothy)
produced Lyrical Ballads (1798), an important work in the English Romantic
movement.[14] The volume gave neither Wordsworth's nor Coleridge's name as
author. One of Wordsworth's most famous poems, "Tintern Abbey", was
published in this collection, along with Coleridge's "The Rime of the
Ancient Mariner". The second edition, published in 1800, had only Wordsworth
listed as the author, and included a preface to the poems.[15] It was augmented
significantly in the next edition, published in 1802.[16] In this preface,
which some scholars consider a central work of Romantic literary theory,
Wordsworth discusses what he sees as the elements of a new type of verse, one
that is based on the "real language of men" and avoids the poetic
diction of much 18th-century verse. Wordsworth also gives his famous definition
of poetry as "the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its
origin from emotion recollected in tranquility," and calls his own poems
in the book "experimental". A fourth and final edition of Lyrical
Ballads was published in 1805.
William Wordsworth remains one of the most
popular romantic poets. Along with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, he is credited with
launching the Romantic Age in English literature. Here are 10 of his most
famous poems published over a period of more than 50 years.
v Ode to Duty
Portrait of
William WordsworthPortrait of William Wordsworth by Benjamin Robert Haydon
Published:
1807
In ‘Ode to
Duty’ Wordsworth conveys the importance of duty which is like a light that
guides us; and a rod which prevents us from erring. Although he recognizes the
worth of love and joy, he is now not sure whether blindly trusting them can
guide man to all good. He realizes that duty, though stern, is also graceful
and divinely beautiful and hence he is willing to serve it more strictly.
Excerpt:-
Stern
Daughter of the Voice of God!
O Duty! if
that name thou love
Who art a
light to guide, a rod
To check the
erring, and reprove;
v
It is a beauteous evening, calm and free
Published:
1807
This sonnet
describes an evening walk on the beach which Wordsworth took with his nine
years old daughter Caroline in Calais, France in August 1802. The sight was
majestically beautiful and in the poem Wordsworth reflects how his daughter is
unaffected by the majesty of the scene as being young she is one with nature.
Excerpt:-
It is a
beauteous evening, calm and free,
The holy
time is quiet as a Nun
Breathless
with adoration; the broad sun
Is sinking
down in its tranquillity;
v
London 1802
Published:
1807
In the
octave of this sonnet Wordsworth wishes that Milton was still alive as England
has fallen drastically since Milton’s period with its people becoming selfish
and morally stagnant. In the sestet he explains how Milton could improve the
present situation of England if he was alive. Through ‘London 1802’ Wordsworth
brings to light the problems with English society while paying homage to
Milton.
Excerpt:-
Oh! raise us
up, return to us again;And give us manners, virtue, freedom, power.
v
We are Seven
Published:
1798
Written in
ballad form, ‘We are Seven’ gives an account of a conversation between an adult
poetic speaker and a little cottage girl which centers around the adult
questioning the girl how many siblings does she have. The little girl counts
her two dead siblings as part of the family and the adult who is perplexed
tries to reason with her. The poem ends with the girl saying, “Nay, we are
seven!” It remains popular for its simple narrative and complex implications.
Excerpt:-
“Seven boys
and girls are we;
“Two of us
in the church-yard lie,
“Beneath the
church-yard tree.”
v
London, 1802
Published: 1800
After Wordsworth’s
death, critics and publishers grouped five of his poems written between 1798 and
1801 as “Lucy poems”. All of them revolve around a girl named Lucy who has died
young. Whether Lucy was a figment of Wordsworth’s imagination or a real person is
not known and the character remains a matter of intense speculation among historians
and his fans. ‘Strange fits of passion have I known’ which revolves around a fantasy
of Lucy’s death is the most famous among the “Lucy poems”. It describes the narrator’s
journey to her cottage and his thoughts along the way.
Excerpt:-
Strange fits
of passion have I known:
And I will dare
to tell,
But in the Lover’s
ear alone,
What once to
me befell.
v Ode: Intimations of Immortality
Intimations
of Immortality Cover ArtIntimations of Immortality Cover Art
Published:
1807
In
Intimations of Immortality the narrator realizes that his divine relationship
with nature has been lost. It is based on the belief that soul existed before
body allowing children to connect with the divine in nature. As a child grows
he loses this divine vision, however, recollections from early childhood allows
the narrator intimations of immortality. The poem is ranked among the best by
Wordsworth and is referred to as the “Great Ode”.
Excerpt:-
Turn wheresoe’er
I may,
By night or
day,
The things
which I have seen I now can see no more.
v Tintern Abbey
Published: 1798
‘Lines
written a few miles above Tintern Abbey’, which is usually referred to simply
as ‘Tintern Abbey’, is one of the best-known poems of Wordsworth. It contains
elements of the ode, the dramatic monologue and the conversation poem. Tintern
Abbey is situated in the village of Tintern in Monmouthshire, on the Welsh bank
of the River Wye. The poem is noted for Wordsworth’s descriptions of the banks
of the River Wye which tell about his philosophies on nature. To this day,
‘Tintern Abbey’ remains a source of critical debate due to its complex
philosophical themes.
Excerpt:-
How oft, in
spirit, have I turned to thee,
O sylvan
Wye! thou wanderer thro’ the woods,
How often
has my spirit turned to thee!
Tintern
AbbeyTintern Abbey
v
Daffodils
Published:
1807
Excerpt:-
For oft,
when on my couch I lie
In vacant or
in pensive mood,
They flash
upon that inward eye
Which is the
bliss of solitude;
And then my
heart with pleasure fills,
And dances
with the daffodils.
# Citation :
https://learnodo-newtonic.com/william-wordsworth-famous-poems
https://www.biography.com/people/william-wordsworth-9537033
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Wordsworth
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