Romantic Poet : William Wordsworth By: Brittany, Lindsay, & Tubie

Author Information

 Wordsworth was born in Cockermouth,Cumberland Cockermouth,Cumberland  His sister was a poet and diarist Dorothy Wordsworth.  When his mom died in 1778, his father sent him to Hawkshead Grammar School.  In 1783 his father died. Wordsworth was sent to live with his uncle.  He suffered depression from the loss of his parents.

 In the winter of 1798, Wordsworth, his sister Dorothy, and friend Coleridge traveled to Germany.  Wordsworth suffered from homesickness while Coleridge enjoyed the trip.  During this winter, he began writing his future piece The Prelude.

 From Wordsworth received his Doctor of Civil Law degree from Durham and Oxford.  When his daughter Dora died 9 years later, he stopped writing poetry  Wordsworth died in 1850, but his “poem to Coleridge” was published by his wife several months later.

 In 1802, Wordsworth married Mary Hutchinson.  By 1805 he had completed his three part philosophical poem The Recluse.  The prologue to The Recluse was never officially titled, but Wordsworth called it “Poem to Coleridge”.

Romantic Characteristics

Nature “..And this green pastoral landscape, were to me More dear, both for themselves and for thy sake!” - Tintern Abbey “..This sea that bares her bosom to the moon; The winds that will be howling at all hours, And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers.” - The World Is Too Much with Us. - The World Is Too Much with Us.

Idealistic “..The picture of the mind revives again: While here I stand, not only with the sense Of present pleasure, but with the pleasing thoughts..” - Tintern Abbey “..Ne’er saw I, never felt,a calm so deep! The river glideth at his own sweet will: Dear God! The very houses seem asleep; And all that mighty heart is lying still!” -Composed upon Westminster Bridge

Romanticized the Past “..Five years have passed; five summers, with the length Of five long winters! And again I hear These waters, rolling from their mountain springs..” “..Thy memory be as a dwelling place For all sweet sounds and harmonies;..” from Tintern Abbey from Tintern Abbey

Desired Radical Change “…Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers: Little we see in Nature that is ours;…” The World Is Too Much with Us The World Is Too Much with Us

Inner Feelings “..Almost suspended, we are laid asleep in body and become a living soul.” “..Of harmony, and the deep power of joy, We see into the life of things.” -from Tintern Abbey -from Tintern Abbey

Literary Terms

 Allusions – Mythological “Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea ; or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn.”  Imagery “I cannot paint but then I was the sounding cataract haunting me like a passion: the tall rock, the mountain, and the deep and gloomy wood, their colors and their forms, were then to me.” -Tintern Abbey

 Personification The City – Composed upon Westminster Bridge Nature – The World Is Too Much with Us, Tintern Abbey  Metaphors Composed Upon a Westminster Bridge “..And all that mighty heart is lying still!”

Tintern Abbey “The anchor of my purest thoughts, the nurse, the guide, the guardian of my heart, and soul of my moral being.”

Works Cited  "William Wordsworth." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 1 Feb 2007, 20:10 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 2 Feb p?title=William_Wordsworth&oldid = http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.ph p?title=William_Wordsworth&oldid =  Wood, Laura. Holt Elements of Literature, Austin: Holt Rinehart and Winston, 2005

RAFT!! RAFT!!  Write a letter to Wordsworth telling him your opinion on the materialism of the world. Do you agree with him, or not  ?