william wordsworth biography facts

William Wordsworth

(1770-1850)

Who Was William Wordsworth?

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.

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.

In 1795, Wordsworth received an inheritance that allowed him to live with his 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 Prelud e, 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.

QUICK FACTS

• Name: William Wordsworth
• Birth Year: 1770
• Birth date: April 7, 1770
• Birth City: Cockermouth, Cumberland, England
• Birth Country: United Kingdom
• Gender: Male
• Best Known For: 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."
• Fiction and Poetry
• Astrological Sign: Aries
• Cambridge University
• Death Year: 1850
• Death date: April 23, 1850
• Death City: Rydal Mount, Westmorland, England
• Death Country: United Kingdom

CITATION INFORMATION

• Article Title: William Wordsworth Biography
• Author: Biography.com Editors
• Website Name: The Biography.com website
• Url: https://www.biography.com/authors-writers/william-wordsworth
• Access Date:
• Publisher: A&E; Television Networks
• Last Updated: October 27, 2021
• Original Published Date: April 2, 2014

Watch Next .css-smpm16:after{background-color:#323232;color:#fff;margin-left:1.8rem;margin-top:1.25rem;width:1.5rem;height:0.063rem;content:'';display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;}

Famous British People

Mick Jagger

Agatha Christie

Alexander McQueen

The Real Royal Scheme Depicted in ‘Mary & George’

William Shakespeare

Anya Taylor-Joy

Kate Middleton, Princess of Wales

Kensington Palace Shares an Update on Kate

Prince William

Where in the World Is Kate Middleton?

• National Poetry Month
• Materials for Teachers
• Literary Seminars
• American Poets Magazine

Main navigation

• Academy of American Poets

User account menu

Search more than 3,000 biographies of contemporary and classic poets.

Page submenu block

• literary seminars
• materials for teachers
• poetry near you

William Wordsworth

William Wordsworth was born in Cockermouth, Cumbria, England, on April 7, 1770. Wordsworth’s mother died when he was eight—this experience shapes much of his later work. 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. While he was at Hawkshead, Wordsworth’s father died leaving him and his four siblings orphans. After Hawkshead, Wordsworth studied at St. 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. While touring Europe, Wordsworth came into contact with the French Revolution. 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. Wordsworth’s earliest poetry was published in 1793 in the collections An Evening Walk and Descriptive Sketches . While living in France, Wordsworth conceived a daughter, Caroline, out of wedlock; he left France, however, before she was born. In 1802, he returned to France with his sister on a four-week visit to meet Caroline. Later that year, he married Mary Hutchinson, a childhood friend, and they had five children together. In 1812, while living in Grasmere, two of their children—Catherine and John—died.

Equally important in the poetic life of Wordsworth was his 1795 meeting with the poet  Samuel Taylor Coleridge . It was with Coleridge that Wordsworth published the famous Lyrical Ballads  (J. & A. Arch) in 1798. 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. 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.

Wordsworth’s most famous work, The Prelude (Edward Moxon, 1850), is considered by many to be the crowning achievement of English Romanticism . The poem, revised numerous times, chronicles the spiritual life of the poet and marks the birth of a new genre of poetry. Although Wordsworth worked on The Prelude throughout his life, the poem was published posthumously. Wordsworth spent his final years settled at Rydal Mount in England, traveling, and continuing his outdoor excursions. Devastated by the death of his daughter, Dora, in 1847, Wordsworth seemingly lost his will to compose poems.

William Wordsworth died at Rydal Mount on April 23, 1850, leaving his wife, Mary, to publish The Prelude three months later.

Related Poets

W. B. Yeats

William Butler Yeats, widely considered one of the greatest poets of the English language, received the 1923 Nobel Prize for Literature. His work was greatly influenced by the heritage and politics of Ireland.

Walt Whitman

Edgar Allan Poe

Born in 1809, Edgar Allan Poe had a profound impact on American and international literature as an editor, poet, and critic.

William Blake

William Blake was born in London on November 28, 1757, to James, a hosier, and Catherine Blake. Two of his six siblings died in infancy. From early childhood, Blake spoke of having visions—at four he saw God "put his head to the window"; around age nine, while walking through the countryside, he saw a tree filled with angels.

Emily Dickinson

Emily Dickinson was born on December 10, 1830, in Amherst, Massachusetts. While she was extremely prolific as a poet and regularly enclosed poems in letters to friends, she was not publicly recognized during her lifetime. She died in Amherst in 1886, and the first volume of her work was published posthumously in 1890.

Newsletter Sign Up

• Academy of American Poets Newsletter
• Academy of American Poets Educator Newsletter
• Teach This Poem

Biography Online

William Wordsworth Biography

Early life – William Wordsworth

Wordsworth was born on 7 April 1770 in Cockermouth, in north-west England. His father, John Wordsworth, introduced the young William to the great poetry of Milton and Shakespeare , but he was frequently absent during William’s childhood. Instead, Wordsworth was brought up by his mother’s parents in Penrith, but this was not a happy period. He frequently felt in conflict with his relations and at times contemplated ending his life. However, as a child, he developed a great love of nature, spending many hours walking in the fells of the Lake District. He also became very close to his sister, Dorothy, who would later become a poet in her own right.

In 1778, William was sent to Hawkshead Grammar School in Lancashire; this separated him from his beloved sister for nearly nine years. In 1787, he entered St. John’s College, Cambridge. It was in this year that he had his first published work, a sonnet in the European Magazine . While still a student at Cambridge, in 1790, he travelled to revolutionary France. He was deeply impressed by the revolutionary spirit and the principles of liberty and egalite. He also fell in love with a French woman, Annette Vallon; together they had an illegitimate daughter, Anne Caroline.

Friendship with Samuel Taylor Coleridge

After graduating, Wordsworth was fortunate to receive a legacy of £900 from Raisley Calvert to pursue a career in literature. He was able to publish his first collection of poems, An Evening Walk and Descriptive Sketches . That year he was also to meet Samuel Taylor Coleridge in Somerset. They became close friends and collaborated on poetic ideas. They later published a joint work – Lyrical Ballards (1798), and Wordsworth greatest work ‘ The Prelude ‘ was initially called by Wordsworth ‘ To Coleridge ‘

This period was important for Wordsworth and also the direction of English poetry. With Coleridge , Keats and Shelley , Wordsworth helped create a much more spontaneous and emotional poetry. It sought to depict the beauty of nature and the quintessential depth of human emotion. In the preface to Lyrical Ballards , Wordsworth writes of poetry:

“The spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility.”

Lyrical Ballards includes some of his best-known poems, such as, “Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey”, “A Slumber Did my Spirit Seal”.

A SLUMBER did my spirit seal; I had no human fears: She seemed a thing that could not feel The touch of earthly years. No motion has she now, no force; She neither hears nor sees; Rolled round in earth’s diurnal course, With rocks, and stones, and trees.

– W. Wordsworth 1799.

In 1802, after returning from a brief visit to see his daughter, Wordsworth married a childhood friend, Mary Hutchinson. Dorothy continued to live with the couple, and she became close to Mary as well as her brother. William and Mary had five children, though three died early.

Lake District, North Windermere, near Grasmere.

In 1807, he published another important volume of poetry “ Poems, in Two Volumes “, this included famous poems such as; “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”, “My Heart Leaps Up”, “Ode: Intimations of Immortality.”

I wandered lonely as a cloud That floats on high o’er vales and hills, When all at once I saw a crowd, A host, of golden daffodils;

– W. Wordsworth – I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud

In 1813, he received an appointment as Distributor of Stamps for Westmorland; this annual income of £400 gave him greater financial security and enabled him to devote his spare time to poetry. In 1813, he family also moved into Rydal Mount, Grasmere; a picturesque location, which inspired his later poetry.

“My heart leaps up when I behold A rainbow in the sky: So was it when my life began; So is it now I am a man; So be it when I shall grow old, Or let me die!”

Poet Laureate

By the 1820s, the critical acclaim for Wordsworth was growing, though ironically critics note that, from this period, his poetry began losing some of its vigour and emotional intensity. His poetry was perhaps a reflection of his own ideas. The 1790s had been a period of emotional turmoil and faith in the revolutionary ideal. Towards the end of his life, his disillusionment with the French Revolution had made him more conservative in outlook. In 1839 he received an honorary degree from Oxford University and received a civil pension of £300 a year from the government. In 1843, he was persuaded to become the nation’s Poet Laureate, despite saying he wouldn’t write any poetry as Poet Laureate. Wordsworth is the only Poet Laureate who never wrote poetry during his official time in the job.

Wordsworth died of pleurisy on 23 April 1850. He was buried in St Oswald’s Church Grasmere. After his death, his widow Mary published his autobiographical ‘Poem to Coleridge’ under the title “The Prelude”.

Citation: Pettinger, Tejvan . “ Biography of William Wordsworth” , Oxford, UK. www.biographyonline.net , 22nd Jan. 2010. Last updated 6th March 2018

William Wordsworth – The Major Works

William Wordsworth – The Major Works at Amazon

Related pages

External links

• William Wordsworth at Amazon.co.uk
• William Wordsworth at Amazon.com
• Wordsworth.org.uk
• William Wordsworth profile at BBC

• Subject List
• Take a Tour
• For Authors
• Subscriber Services
• Publications
• African American Studies
• African Studies
• American Literature
• Anthropology
• Architecture Planning and Preservation
• Art History
• Atlantic History
• Biblical Studies

British and Irish Literature

• Childhood Studies
• Chinese Studies
• Cinema and Media Studies
• Communication
• Criminology
• Environmental Science
• Evolutionary Biology
• International Law
• International Relations
• Islamic Studies
• Jewish Studies
• Latin American Studies
• Latino Studies
• Linguistics
• Literary and Critical Theory
• Medieval Studies
• Military History
• Political Science
• Public Health
• Renaissance and Reformation
• Social Work
• Urban Studies
• Victorian Literature
• Browse All Subjects

How to Subscribe

• Free Trials

In This Article Expand or collapse the "in this article" section William Wordsworth

Introduction, general overviews and introductions.

• Reference Works and Resources
• Bibliographies
• Biographies
• Poetry and Prose
• General Collections of Essays
• Lyrical Ballads
• The Prelude
• Other Studies of Individual Works, Volumes, or Periods
• Writing Practices, Revision, and Textual Issues
• Sources and Influences
• Relationships with Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Dorothy Wordsworth
• Reviews and Histories of Criticism
• Reception, Posterity, and Influence
• The Poetic Role
• Imagination
• Suffering and Feeling
• Philosophy and Aesthetics
• Psychoanalytic Criticism
• “New Historicism”
• Social and Economic
• French Revolution
• Revolutionary Aftermath and War
• Women and Gender
• Nature and Ecology
• Place and Space

Related Articles Expand or collapse the "related articles" section about

About related articles close popup.

Lorem Ipsum Sit Dolor Amet

Vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia Curae; Aliquam ligula odio, euismod ut aliquam et, vestibulum nec risus. Nulla viverra, arcu et iaculis consequat, justo diam ornare tellus, semper ultrices tellus nunc eu tellus.

• Arthurian Literature
• Charles and Mary Lamb
• James MacPherson
• Prosody and Meter: Early Modern to 19th Century
• Psychoanalysis
• Thomas De Quincey
• Thomas Gray
• William Blake

Other Subject Areas

Forthcoming articles expand or collapse the "forthcoming articles" section.

• Diary Criticism
• John Banville
• Middle English Literature
• Find more forthcoming articles...
• Export Citations
• Share This Facebook LinkedIn Twitter

William Wordsworth by Simon Bainbridge LAST REVIEWED: 20 September 2012 LAST MODIFIED: 20 September 2012 DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199846719-0062

William Wordsworth (b. 1770–d. 1850) was one of the most important poets of the Romantic period and is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest poets writing in the English language. He was born in Cockermouth in the Lake District and went to Hawkshead Grammar School in the same area. His mother died in 1778, and the death of his father in 1783 left him and his siblings, including his sister Dorothy, in financial difficulties. Wordsworth studied classics at St. John’s College Cambridge, after which he spent time in London, France, and southwest England, where his friendship with fellow poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge became a vital inspiration. In 1798 the two poets published jointly the first volume of Lyrical Ballads , Wordsworth’s own claims for which contributed to a debate about the volume ushering in a new age of poetry, a debate that continues to this day. After a brief stay in Germany, William and Dorothy returned to the Lake District, settling in Grasmere, an event celebrated in the poem “Home at Grasmere.” Wordsworth lived in the Lake District for the remainder of his life, and the poet and the region continue to be strongly associated. In 1799 Wordsworth completed the first version of what would become his poetic masterpiece, the epic autobiography The Prelude , a work that he continued to expand and revise and that wasn’t published until 1850, after the poet’s death. He married Mary Hutchinson in 1802 and the couple had five children, though two died in 1812. Poems in Two Volumes (1807) and the long work The Excursion (1814) were published to mixed receptions, and Wordsworth’s acceptance of the government-funded role of Distributor of Stamps for Westmoreland in 1813 seemed to some contemporaries to be symbolic of the poet’s increasing orthodoxy and conservatism after his radical, nonconformist youth. Wordsworth’s critical reputation improved from the 1820s on, culminating in his appointment as Poet Laureate in 1843, seven years before his death. The strange and often disturbing power of Wordsworth’s poetry has always been recognized, though contemporaries were often critical of the poet’s choice of “low” subject matter and of what John Keats defined as the “egotistical sublime” character of his verse, qualities that since have been recognized as central to Wordsworth’s poetic achievement. Wordsworth has been central to discussions of Romanticism and English literature more generally and continues to stimulate a wealth of critical readings and theoretical approaches.

Wordsworth’s work has been the subject of a vast amount of critical analysis and has often been used as a battleground for different theoretical approaches. Williams 2002 provides a valuable guide to the changing critical responses, alongside a useful introduction to a wide range of the poems. Danby 1960 gives a detailed reading of the major poems from 1797 to 1807 that readers new to the poetry will find particularly helpful. Gill 2003 , a collection of essays written by some of the leading current Wordsworth scholars, offers a good starting point. Hartman 1964 is one of the most important studies of the poet and is often seen as the first major modern study of the poet and the touchstone for later criticism. Wordsworth 1982 provides a good place to start, this time with an emphasis on manuscript study. McFarland 1992 offers a powerful attempt to characterize the essential nature of Wordsworth’s achievement, responding in particular to New Historicist readings of the poetry. The beautifully illustrated Jaye, et al. 1987 locates the poet in the period’s wider contexts. Purkis 2000 also provides very useful introductions to the various contexts in which Wordsworth was writing, along with helpful close readings of the poetry.

Danby, John F. The Simple Wordsworth: Studies in the Poems, 1797–1908 . London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1960.

A good starting point with detailed and helpful close readings of the major poetry.

Gill, Stephen. The Cambridge Companion to Wordsworth . Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2003.

DOI: 10.1017/CCOL0521641160

Both a good introduction to the poet and his work and a valuable snapshot of the current state of Wordsworth scholarship. Fifteen essays by leading Wordsworth scholars offering a wide-ranging study of key works and themes.

Hartman, Geoffrey H. Wordsworth’s Poetry, 1787–1814 . New Haven, CT, and London: Yale University Press, 1964.

One of the most important and influential studies of Wordsworth of the 20th century. Offering careful, detailed, and revelatory readings of the poetry. Unlike much preceding criticism, presents a Wordsworth in conflict, unsure whether to commit to nature or the imagination. Explores idea of tension between the poet’s “two consciousnesses,” a consciousness of nature and a consciousness of self. The author added a valuable preface to the 1971 edition.

Jaye, Michael C., Robert Woof, and Jonathan Wordsworth. William Wordsworth and the Age of English Romanticism . New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1987.

Well-illustrated introduction to the poet in his context. Sections on key topics in the writing of the period, including nature, memory, imagination, and the sublime. Powerfully conveys the excitement of the Revolutionary age.

McFarland, Thomas. William Wordsworth: Intensity and Achievement . Oxford: Clarendon, 1992.

DOI: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198112532.001.0001

Positions itself against the New Historical criticism prevalent in the 1980s and opens with a reading of “Tintern Abbey” in response to Marjorie Levinson. Argues for “intensity” as the definitive element of Wordsworth’s poetry.

Purkis, John. A Preface to Wordsworth . Rev. ed. London: Longman, 2000.

Very good starting point for undergraduates or general readers, including a valuable introduction, sections on “economic history” and “philosophy and religion,” and critical readings of a good selection of poems.

Williams, John. Critical Issues: William Wordsworth . Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave, 2002.

Useful survey of the critical responses to Wordsworth from his own time until the present day, with a detailed discussion of key essays. Considers the whole span of Wordsworth’s career. Ordered in terms of major publications with two chapters on The Prelude . Investigates Wordsworth’s ongoing value for modern readers. A valuable volume for advanced undergraduates or postgraduates.

Wordsworth, Jonathan. William Wordsworth: The Borders of Vision . Oxford: Clarendon, 1982.

A collection of essays on major themes in the poetry that together constitute an important study. Critical emphasis on early versions of the poems, especially The Prelude , drawing on manuscript sources. Good on the relationship with Coleridge. As title suggests, argues for Wordsworth as a poet of “border vision.”

back to top

Users without a subscription are not able to see the full content on this page. Please subscribe or login .

Oxford Bibliographies Online is available by subscription and perpetual access to institutions. For more information or to contact an Oxford Sales Representative click here .

• About British and Irish Literature »
• Meet the Editorial Board »
• Abbey Theatre
• Adapting Shakespeare
• Alfred (King)
• Alliterative Verse
• Ancrene Wisse, and the Katherine and Wooing Groups
• Anglo-Irish Poetry, 1500–1800
• Anglo-Saxon Hagiography
• Austen, Jane
• Ballard, J. G.
• Barnes, Julian
• Beckett, Samuel
• Behn, Aphra
• Biblical Literature
• Biography and Autobiography
• Blake, William
• Bloomsbury Group
• Bowen, Elizabeth
• Brontë, Anne
• Brooke-Rose, Christine
• Browne, Thomas
• Burgess, Anthony
• Burney, Frances
• Burns, Robert
• Butler, Hubert
• Byron, Lord
• Carroll, Lewis
• Carter, Angela
• Catholic Literature
• Celtic and Irish Revival
• Chatterton, Thomas
• Chaucer, Geoffrey
• Chorographical and Landscape Writing
• Coffeehouse
• Colonization, Contact and
• Congreve, William
• Conrad, Joseph
• Crime Fiction
• Defoe, Daniel
• Dickens, Charles
• Donne, John
• Drama, Northern Irish
• Drayton, Michael
• Early Modern Prose, 1500-1650
• Eighteenth-Century Novel
• Eliot, George
• English Bible and Literature, The
• English Civil War / War of the Three Kingdoms
• English Reformation Literature
• Epistolatory Novel, The
• Erotic, Obscene, and Pornographic Writing, 1660-1900
• Ferrier, Susan
• Fielding, Henry
• Ford, Ford Madox
• French Revolution, 1789–1799
• Friel, Brian
• Gascoigne, George
• Globe Theatre
• Golding, William
• Goldsmith, Oliver
• Gosse, Edmund
• Gower, John
• Gray, Thomas
• Gunpowder Plot (1605), The
• Hardy, Thomas
• Heaney, Seamus
• Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey
• Herbert, George
• Highlands, The
• Hogg, James
• Holmes, Sherlock
• Hopkins, Gerard Manley
• Hurd, Richard
• Ireland and Memory Studies
• Irish Crime Fiction
• Irish Famine, Writing of the
• Irish Gothic Tradition
• Irish Life Writing
• Irish Literature and the Union with Britain, 1801-1921
• Irish Modernism
• Irish Poetry of the First World War
• Irish Short Story, The
• Irish Travel Writing
• Johnson, B. S.
• Johnson, Samuel
• Jones, David
• Jonson, Ben
• Joyce, James
• Keats, John
• Kelman, James
• Kempe, Margery
• Lamb, Charles and Mary
• Larkin, Philip
• Law, Medieval
• Lawrence, D. H.
• Literature, Neo-Latin
• Literature of the Bardic Revival
• Literature of the Irish Civil War
• Literature of the 'Thirties
• MacDiarmid, Hugh
• MacPherson, James
• Malory, Thomas
• Marlowe, Christopher
• Marvell, Andrew
• Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
• McEwan, Ian
• McGuckian, Medbh
• Medieval Lyrics
• Medieval Manuscripts
• Medieval Scottish Poetry
• Medieval Sermons
• Middleton, Thomas
• Milton, John
• Miéville, China
• Morality Plays
• Morris, William
• Muir, Edwin
• Muldoon, Paul
• Ní Chuilleanáin, Eiléan
• Nonsense Literature
• Novel, Contemporary British
• Novel, The Contemporary Irish
• O’Casey, Sean
• O'Connor, Frank
• O’Faoláin, Seán
• Old English Literature
• Percy, Thomas
• Piers Plowman
• Pope, Alexander
• Postmodernism
• Post-War Irish Drama
• Post-war Irish Writing
• Pre-Raphaelites
• Prosody and Meter: Twentieth Century
• Quincey, Thomas De
• Ralegh (Raleigh), Sir Walter
• Ramsay, Allan and Robert Fergusson
• Revenge Tragedy
• Richardson, Samuel
• Rise of the Novel in Britain, 1660–1780, The
• Robin Hood Literature
• Romance, Medieval English
• Romanticism
• Ruskin, John
• Science Fiction
• Scott, Walter
• Shakespeare in Translation
• Shakespeare, William
• Shakespeare's Language
• Shaw, George Bernard
• Shelley, Percy Bysshe
• Sidney, Mary, Countess of Pembroke
• Sinclair, Iain
• Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
• Smollett, Tobias
• Sonnet and Sonnet Sequence
• Spenser, Edmund
• Sterne, Laurence
• Swift, Jonathan
• Synge, John Millington
• Thomas, Dylan
• Thomas, R. S.
• Tóibín, Colm
• Travel Writing
• Trollope, Anthony
• Tudor Literature
• Twenty-First-Century Irish Prose
• Urban Literature
• Utopian and Dystopian Literature to 1800
• Vampire Fiction
• Verse Satire from the Renaissance to the Romantic Period
• Webster, John
• Welsh, Irvine
• Welsh Poetry, Medieval
• Welsh Writing Before 1500
• Wilmot, John, Second Earl of Rochester
• Wollstonecraft, Mary
• Wollstonecraft Shelley, Mary
• Wordsworth, William
• Writing and Evolutionary Theory
• Wulfstan, Archbishop of York
• Wyatt, Thomas
• Yeats, W. B.
• Young Adult Literature in Ireland, Children's Literature a...
• Privacy Policy
• Cookie Policy
• Legal Notice
• Accessibility

Powered by:

• [66.249.64.20|185.147.128.134]
• 185.147.128.134

• World Biography

William Wordsworth Biography

Born: April 7, 1770 Cookermouth, Cumberland, England Died: April 23, 1850 Rydal Mount, Westmorland, England English poet

William Wordsworth was an early leader of romanticism (a literary movement that celebrated nature and concentrated on human emotions) in English poetry and ranks as one of the greatest lyric poets in the history of English literature.

His early years

William Wordsworth was born on April 7, 1770, in Cookermouth, Cumberland, England, the second child of an attorney. Unlike the other major English romantic poets, he enjoyed a happy childhood under the loving care of his mother and was very close to his sister Dorothy. As a child he wandered happily through the lovely natural scenery of Cumberland. In grammar school, Wordsworth showed a keen interest in poetry. He was fascinated by the epic poet John Milton (1608–1674).

From 1787 to 1790 Wordsworth attended St. John's College at Cambridge University. He always returned to his home and to nature during his summer vacations. Before graduating from Cambridge, he took a walking tour through France, Switzerland, and Italy in 1790. The Alps made an impression on him that he did not recognize until fourteen years later.

Stay in France

Wordsworth fell passionately in love with a French girl, Annette Vallon. She gave birth to their daughter in December 1792. However, Wordsworth had spent his limited funds and was forced to return home. The separation left him with a sense of guilt that deepened his poetic inspiration and resulted in an important theme in his work of abandoned women.

Publication of first poems

Wordsworth's first poems, Descriptive Sketches and An Evening Walk, were printed in 1793. He wrote several pieces over the next several years. The year 1797 marked the beginning of Wordsworth's long friendship with Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834). Together they published Lyrical Ballads in 1798. Wordsworth wanted to challenge "the gaudiness [unnecessarily flashy] and inane [foolish] phraseology [wording] of many modern writers." Most of his poems in this collection centered on the simple yet deeply human feelings of ordinary people, phrased in their own language. His views on this new kind of poetry were more fully described in the important "Preface" that he wrote for the second edition (1800).

"Tintern Abbey"

Wordsworth's most memorable contribution to this volume was "Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey," which he wrote just in time to include it. This poem is the first major piece to illustrate his original talent at its best. It skillfully combines matter-of-factness in natural description with a genuinely mystical (magical) sense of infinity, joining self-exploration to philosophical speculation (questioning). The poem closes on a subdued but confident reassertion of nature's healing power, even though mystical insight may be obtained from the poet.

In its successful blending of inner and outer experience, of sense perception, feeling, and thought, "Tintern Abbey" is a poem in which the writer becomes a symbol of mankind. The poem leads to imaginative thoughts about man and the universe. This cosmic outlook rooted in the self is a central feature of romanticism. Wordsworth's poetry is undoubtedly the most impressive example of this view in English literature.

Poems of the middle period

Wordsworth, even while writing his contributions to the Lyrical Ballads, had been feeling his way toward more ambitious schemes. He had embarked on a long poem in unrhymed verse, "The Ruined Cottage," later referred to as "The Peddlar." It was intended to form part of a vast philosophical poem with the title "The Recluse, or Views of Man, Nature and Society." This grand project never materialized as originally planned.

Abstract, impersonal speculation was not comfortable for Wordsworth. He could handle experiences in the philosophical-lyrical manner only if they were closely related to himself and could arouse his creative feelings and imagination. During the winter months he spent in Germany, he started work on his magnum opus (greatest work), The Prelude, or Growth of a Poet's Mind. It was published after his death.

However, such a large achievement was still beyond Wordsworth's scope (area of capabilities) at this time. It was back to the shorter poetic forms that he turned during the most productive season of his long literary life, the spring of 1802. The output of these fertile (creative) months mostly came from his earlier inspirations: nature and the common people. During this time he wrote "To a Butterfly," "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud," "To the Cuckoo," "The Rainbow," and other poems.

Changes in philosophy

The crucial event of this period was Wordsworth's loss of the sense of mystical oneness, which had sustained (lasted throughout) his highest imaginative flights. Indeed, a mood of despondency (depression) descended over Wordsworth, who was then thirty-two years old.

In the summer of 1802 Wordsworth spent a few weeks in Calais, France, with his sister Dorothy. Wordsworth's renewed contact with France only confirmed his disillusionment (disappointment) with the French Revolution and its aftermath.

During this period Wordsworth had become increasingly concerned with Coleridge, who by now was almost totally dependent upon opium (a highly addictive drug) for relief from his physical sufferings. Both friends came to believe that the realities of life were in stark contradiction (disagreement) to the visionary expectations of their youth. Wordsworth characteristically sought to redefine his own identity in ways that would allow him a measure of meaning. The new turn his life took in 1802 resulted in an inner change that set the new course his poetry followed from then on.

Poems about England and Scotland began pouring forth from Wordsworth's pen, while France and Napoleon (1769–1821) soon became Wordsworth's favorite symbols of cruelty and oppression. His nationalistic (intense pride in one's own country) inspiration led him to produce the two "Memorials of a Tour in Scotland" (1803, 1814) and the group entitled "Poems Dedicated to National Independence and Liberty."

Poems of 1802

The best poems of 1802, however, deal with a deeper level of inner change. In Wordsworth's poem "Intimations of Immortality" (March–April), he plainly recognized that "The things which I have seen I now can see no more"; yet he emphasized that although the "visionary gleam" had fled, the memory remained, and although the "celestial light" had vanished, the "common sight" of "meadow, grove and stream" was still a potent (strong) source of delight and solace (comfort).

Thus Wordsworth shed his earlier tendency to idealize nature and turned to a more sedate (calm) doctrine (set of beliefs) of orthodox Christianity. Younger poets and critics soon blamed him for this "recantation" (renouncing), which they equated with his change of mind about the French Revolution. His Ecclesiastical Sonnets (1822) are clear evidence of the way in which love of freedom, nature, and the Church came to coincide (come together at the same time) in his mind.

The Prelude

Nevertheless, it was the direction suggested in "Intimations of Immortality" that, in the view of later criticism, enabled Wordsworth to produce perhaps the most outstanding achievement of English romanticism: The Prelude. He worked on it, on and off, for several years and completed the first version in May 1805. The Prelude can claim to be the only true romantic epic (long, often heroic work) because it deals in narrative terms with the spiritual growth of the only true romantic hero, the poet. The inward odyssey (journey) of the poet was described not for its own sake but as a sample and as an adequate image of man at his most sensitive.

Wordsworth shared the general romantic notion that personal experience is the only way to gain living knowledge. The purpose of The Prelude was to recapture and interpret, with detailed thoroughness, the whole range of experiences that had contributed to the shaping of his own mind. Wordsworth refrained from publishing the poem in his lifetime, revising it continuously. Most important and, perhaps, most to be regretted, the poet also tried to give a more orthodox tinge to his early mystical faith in nature.

Later years

Wordsworth's estrangement (growing apart) from Coleridge in 1810 deprived him of a powerful incentive to imaginative and intellectual alertness. Wordsworth's appointment to a government position in 1813 relieved him of financial care.

Wordsworth's undiminished love for nature made him view the emergent (just appearing) industrial society with undisguised reserve. He opposed the Reform Bill of 1832, which, in his view, merely transferred political power from the land owners to the manufacturing class, but he never stopped pleading in favor of the victims of the factory system.

In 1843 Wordsworth was appointed poet laureate (official poet of a country). He died on April 23, 1850.

For More Information

Davies, Hunter. William Wordsworth: A Biography. New York: Atheneum, 1980.

Gill, Stephen. William Wordsworth: A Life. New York: Oxford University Press, 1989.

Johnston, Kenneth R. The Hidden Wordsworth: Poet, Lover, Rebel, Spy. New York: W. W. Norton, 1998.

Negrotta, Rosanna. William Wordsworth: A Biography with Selected Poems. London: Brockhampton, 1999.

User Contributions:

Comment about this article, ask questions, or add new information about this topic:.

Interesting Facts about William Wordsworth

The life of William Wordsworth told through some intriguing biographical facts

William Wordsworth was born on 7 April 1770 in Cockermouth in the Lake District. He went to the same school, the Cockermouth Free School, as Fletcher Christian, the man who would lead the mutiny on the Bounty in 1789. Christian was six years senior to Wordsworth.

Famously, Wordsworth had anosmia. As the poet’s nephew wrote in his  Memoirs of William Wordsworth , ‘With regard to fragrance , Mr. Wordsworth spoke from the testimony of others:  he himself had  no sense of smell . The single instance of his enjoying such a perception, which is recorded of him in Southey’s life, was, in fact, imaginary. The incident occurred at Racedown, when he was walking with Miss H––, who coming suddenly upon a parterre of sweet flowers, expressed her pleasure at their fragrance, – a pleasure which he caught from her lips, and then fancied to be his own.’

Wordsworth was a keen walker among the Lakes where he lived for much of his life – as was his friend Samuel Taylor Coleridge, who collaborated with him on the landmark 1798 volume Lyrical Ballads. Thomas De Quincey once estimated that Wordsworth walked up to 180,000 miles in his whole life.

Who wrote the following lines? ‘They flash upon that inward eye / Which is the bliss of solitude.’ They come from ‘I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud’, but they weren’t written by Wordsworth – his wife, Mary Hutchinson, contributed them, as Wordsworth himself confirmed . There is no evidence to support the oft-repeated claim that Wordsworth originally had ‘I wandered lonely as a cow’ until Dorothy advised him to alter it to ‘I wandered lonely as a cloud’, though it’s a nice story: the myth  may have originated in Conrad Aiken’s 1952 novel  Ushant .

‘I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud’ first appeared in print in 1807 in Wordsworth’s  Poems in Two Volumes , which received largely negative reviews. A young Byron described it as ‘puerile’. It was not, perhaps, the worst review Wordsworth’s work ever received: Francis Jeffrey’s adverse review of Wordsworth’s long poem The Excursion began with the devastating sentence, ‘This will never do.’ Which, somehow, is worse.

Wordsworth’s famous preface to the  Lyrical Ballads , in which he refers to poetry as ‘the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings’ that ‘takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility’, didn’t appear in the original 1798 edition but was first published in the 1800 reprint (which, for some reason, carried only Wordsworth’s name as author).

Wordsworth died on 23 April 1850 – just over a fortnight after his eightieth birthday, and on the anniversary of Shakespeare’s death some 234 years before. For the last seven years of his life he was Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, though he wrote no official verses during this time.

If you enjoyed these William Wordsworth facts, do have a look at our surprising facts about Samuel Taylor Coleridge  and our fascinating facts about Sir Walter Scott .

Image: Manuscript of William Wordsworth’s ‘I wandered lonely as a cloud’  © The British Library Board, Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

Discover more from Interesting Literature

Subscribe to get the latest posts to your email.

Type your email…

16 thoughts on “Interesting Facts about William Wordsworth”

Dorothy also tells us that the day of they had such an inspiring walk , the weather wasn’t so sunny and warm as it seems by reading the poem , but windy and stormy, in fact they had to go back home quickly as it rained on them. However, I agree with young Byron.

I’m sure someone has written a book relating Dorothy’s diary entries to William’s poems. She was co-author in a way!

It would be pretty interesting ! :)

I love the idea of a floating cow, however………….

Reblogged this on gunner .

I have walked in the Lake District since a child and remember studying Wordsworth at school. We even had school excursions and walked in Wordsworth’s footsteps. For fans of both fell walking AND Wordsworth I can recommend 2 books highly: Wordsworth & the Lake District – A Guide to the Poems and Their Places by David McCracken and Coleridge Walks the Fells by Alan Hankinson.

• Pingback: Interesting Facts about William Wordsworth | My BlogThe Philosopher's blog.

We just covered the Romantic poets. Wandering like a lonely cow is definitely not as picturesque as a lonely cloud.

Thank you for this piece. I love William Wordsworth; his poetry is always a source of inspiration for me.

• Pingback: Scurte #349 | Assassin CG
• Pingback: A History of English Poetry in 8 Short Poems | Interesting Literature
• Pingback: 100 Interesting Facts about Famous Authors | Interesting Literature
• Pingback: Interesting Facts about Kahlil Gibran’s ‘The Prophet’ | Interesting Literature
• Pingback: October 4 in Literature: Guys and Dolls Author Born | Interesting Literature
• Pingback: Interesting Facts about Kahlil Gibran’s ‘The Prophet’ | 1traducator's Blog
• Pingback: Surprising Facts about Samuel Taylor Coleridge | Interesting Literature

Comments are closed.

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading

William Wordsworth | 10 Facts On The Famous English Poet

Active in late eighteenth and first half of the nineteenth century, William Wordsworth was an English poet who, along with Samuel Taylor Coleridge , launched the English Romantic movement in literature and changed the course of English poetry. After struggling in the initial phase of his career, Wordsworth had become one of the most renowned poets in his later years and was appointed Poet Laureate of Britain in 1843 . Know about the family, life, career, works and death of William Wordsworth through these 10 interesting facts.

#1 HIS BROTHER JOHN WAS CAPTAIN OF A Ship WHICH SANK IN 1805

William Wordsworth was born on 7th April 1770 in a large mansion known as Wordsworth House in Cockermouth, Cumbria County, North West England . He was the second of five children of John Wordsworth and his wife Ann Cookson . John Wordsworth was a legal representative of James Lowther, 1st Earl of Lonsdale . William’s siblings were Richard , the eldest, who became a lawyer; Dorothy , an author, poet and diarist; John , captain of the ship Earl of Abergavenny which was wrecked in February 1805 causing his death which devastated William; and Christopher , the youngest, who became Master of Trinity College, Cambridge.

#2 He GRADUATED FROM CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY IN 1791

John Wordsworth had little involvement with his children but he did introduce young William to poetry, including that of Milton, Shakespeare and Spenser . William attended a small school in Cockermouth and Ann Birkett’s school at Penrith, where his maternal grandparents resided. William’s mother Ann died in March 1778 when he was seven years old . He was sent to live with his mother’s family and the following year he began attending Hawkshead Grammar School in Lancashire . John Wordsworth died in December 1783 when William was thirteen years old . In 1787 , William Wordsworth entered St. John’s College of the University of Cambridge . He did not excel there, but managed to graduate in 1791 .

#3 HE HAD A VERY CLOSE RELATIONSHIP WITH HIS SISTER

William Wordsworth had a close relationship with his siblings, especially with his sister Dorothy Wordsworth . After the death of their mother, William and Dorothy were sent to live with different relatives and didn’t see each other for 9 years. They were reunited in 1787 and from 1795 became inseparable companions. Dorothy didn’t marry and lived with William. She was a poet and diarist. Though she didn’t have ambitions to be a renowned writer, her work was examined later by critics and she is known for her poetic and vivid descriptions of scenes . Dorothy is considered by some to be vital to William’s success and he often borrowed from her journals which contained detailed accounts of nature scenes.

#4 HE HAD A DAUGHTER WITH A FRENCH WOMAN

In 1791, while visiting France during the early French Revolution, Wordsworth fell in love with a French woman named Annette Vallon . The couple had a daughter in December 1792 , but before that Wordsworth had to return to England and couldn’t come back due to outbreak of war between England and France. In 1802, Wordsworth travelled to France to visit Annette and to see for the first time his daughter Caroline . Later, Wordsworth wrote the famous sonnet “It is a beauteous evening, calm and free” , recalling a seaside walk with his 9-year-old daughter Caroline.

#5 WORDSWORTH MARRIED HIS CHILDHOOD FRIEND IN 1802

A purpose of Wordsworth’s visit to Annette was to prepare her for his forthcoming marriage to Mary Hutchinson . Mary was a childhood friend of Wordsworth who had known him since they attended school together at Penrith. William Wordsworth married Mary Hutchinson on October 4, 1802 . The couple had three sons and two daughters , John (1803), Dora (1804), Thomas (1806), Catherine (1808) and William (1810) . However three of their five children, Thomas (1812), Catherine (1812) and Dora (1847), died before them. Several of Wordsworth’s poems show heartfelt laments for the loss of two of his children who died in 1812 and he completely gave up writing new material after his beloved daughter Dora died at the age of 42 in 1847.

#6 A FRIEND’S LEGACY ALLOWED HIM TO PURSUE HIS POETIC CAREER

The first half of the 1790s was a dark period for William Wordsworth. He was unprepared for job and nearly penniless. In 1795, however, he received a legacy of 900 pounds from a friend named Raisley Calvert . This allowed him to pursue a career as poet and to move in 1795, along with his beloved sister Dorothy, to Alfoxton House, Somerset . This house was just a few miles from the residence of Samuel Taylor Coleridge , who William had met a couple of years ago. Wordsworth and Coleridge formed a close friendship and their partnership changed the course of English poetry .

#7 WORDSWORTH AND COLERIDGE LAUNCHED THE ENGLISH ROMANTIC MOVEMENT

In the year 1797, Wordsworth and Coleridge, with insights from Dorothy, broke the decorum of neoclassical verse with daring original poetic works. The following year their collection of poetry Lyrical Ballads was published. Though the immediate reaction to Lyrical Ballads was modest, it is now considered a landmark work which changed the course of English literature and poetry . It launched the influential English Romantic movement in literature characterized by its emphasis on emotion and glorification of nature .

#8 1797–1808 IS CONSIDERED His GREAT DECADE

From 1799 to 1808, Wordsworth lived at the Dove Cottage in the village of Grasmere in the Lake District of England. Here he became friends with another prominent poet of the generation Robert Southey . Wordsworth, Coleridge and Southey were the three main figures of the group known as Lake Poets as they all lived in the Lake District. The years 1797 to 1808 are now recognized as the best years of Wordsworth known as his Great Decade . During this time, he wrote some of his most famous poems including Tintern Abbey, Ode: Intimations of Immortality, Daffodils and parts of his autobiographical epic , The Prelude .

#9 He IS THE ONLY POET LAUREATE OF UK TO WRITE NO OFFICIAL VERSES

In 1813, William Wordsworth and his family including Dorothy moved to Rydal Mount in the town of Ambleside in Cumbria. Here he spent the rest of his life. By 1820, Wordsworth was enjoying considerable success and his reputation continued to grow. He received honorary degrees from Durham (1838) and Oxford (1839) . In 1843 , following the death of his friend Robert Southey , William Wordsworth was appointed Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom . He initially refused the offer saying he was too old but British P.M. Robert Peel assured him that “you shall have nothing required of you” . Wordsworth was poet laureate till his death in 1850 and is the only one to write no official verses .

#10 HIS MASTERPIECE WAS PUBLISHED 3 MONTHS AFTER HIS DEATH

William Wordsworth died on 23rd April 1850 at his home Rydal Mount from an aggravated case of pleurisy . He was 80 years old . Wordsworth’s autobiographical poem, containing extremely personal details of his life and on which he worked since 1798, The Prelude , was published three months after his death . The Prelude is widely regarded by critics as Wordsworth’s greatest work though his most popular poem is perhaps ‘I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud’ , commonly known as Daffodils . William Wordsworth was the central figure in the English Romantic revolution in poetry and is considered one of the greatest poets in English literature.

WORDSWORTH AND WALKING STEWART

In 1792 , while he was in revolutionary Paris, Wordsworth became acquainted with the famous English traveller and philosopher John Stewart , popularly known as ‘Walking’ Stewart . He is said to have travelled on foot alone from India through Persia, Abyssinia, Arabia and Africa, and every European country as far east as Russia. William Wordsworth later described Stewart as the most eloquent man on the subject of Nature he had ever met. Some scholars consider that many of Wordsworth’s philosophical sentiments may be indebted to Walking Stewart.

9 thoughts on “William Wordsworth | 10 Facts On The Famous English Poet”

thank tyou helping me with my homework got a test tomz thanks

Happy to help.

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Privacy overview.

• International edition
• Australia edition
• Europe edition

Radical Wordsworth, Well-Kept Secrets, William Wordsworth review – lives of the poet

Republican, eco-warrior young Wordsworth v grand older poet – 250 after his birth, do we still have to take sides?

J ames Boswell started his biography of Dr Johnson on an anxious note: “To write the Life of him who excelled all mankind in writing the lives of others,” he confessed, “may be reckoned in me a presumptuous task.” How presumptuous, then, must the biographer of William Wordsworth feel? Not only is he one of the greatest of all English poets, but in The Prelude , largely unpublished until after his death, he excelled all mankind in writing the history of his own life – or rather, what he called “the growth of a poet’s mind”. No biographer could hope to compete with the sheer audacity and originality of Wordsworth’s 14-book blank verse account of what had made him a writer and a man. But as these three studies make plain, there is more than one way to tell the story of a life.

Although his verse autobiography tracks the sources of a poet’s character and imagination, in real life its author tried just as strenuously to keep himself hidden from view. Wordsworth thought one of the best ways to put off would-be biographers was to claim that virtually nothing had ever happened to him. Now we know differently. The “well-kept secrets” to which Andrew Wordsworth (a descendant) alludes in his title are, first, the poet’s “true feelings towards his sister”, and second, “the existence of his illegitimate daughter”. The latter might justly be described as a secret, since knowledge of Caroline Wordsworth’s birth in revolutionary France did not become public until seven decades after Wordsworth had died. It is also true that he enjoyed an intensely and unusually loving, creative relationship with his sister Dorothy. But this can scarcely be said to constitute a “secret”; Wordsworth doesn’t appear to have felt burdened by his feelings towards her, nor did he try to conceal them. Andrew Wordsworth stops short of suggesting, as others have done, that the connection may have been incestuous. Rather, he sees in the five celebrated “Lucy” poems – a series of works concerning a young girl who has died, composed between 1798 and 1802 – coded references both to Caroline and Dorothy, expressing the author’s fears for the loss of one or both of them but also in some sense steeling himself to bear it.

One of the many enjoyments of Stephen Gill’s William Wordsworth: A Life is the quiet pride it communicates in a job well done. Wordsworth emerges from this comprehensive and absorbing study as a man whose sense of purpose and duty steadily grew from youth to old age. That sense had its origins in the early loss of his parents on the one hand, and in his poetic vocation on the other. The orphaned Wordsworth did not see his sister again until they were both grown up. Once reunited, they embarked on a remarkable experiment in domesticity and writing, one to which both siblings, their friends, and (later) Wordsworth’s wife, Mary, were devoted. Gill carefully draws out the rewards and the costs of what it meant for other people to commit their lives to an often testy, sensitive man whose needs dominated the household. He also rightly pauses on several occasions to remind us that, while biographies impose a shape and certainty on the lives of their illustrious subjects, those subjects could not themselves have known how things would turn out. It took a long time indeed for Wordsworth’s greatness to be recognised. For much of his long life (he died aged 80) he was either poor, or vilified by critics, or both.

First published in 1989, Gill’s biography now appears in a second edition to mark the 250 th anniversary of the poet’s birth. The new text includes ampler consideration of Wordsworth’s wife and sister, and an updated frame of critical references. But the book is essentially the same judicious, substantial account that it was 31 years ago. Even if it hasn’t changed much, this biography is centrally concerned with the value of change, as weighed against the merits of consistency. Like the poems it considers, William Wordsworth: A Life is constantly and subtly attentive to first and second thoughts. It cherishes and brings into sharp focus the work of revision: Wordsworth found the temptation to rewrite himself irresistible. His inability to leave his own works alone was evidence of his strongest instinct “to search for the continuity between past and present selves, to demonstrate an essential wholeness of being”.

Readers have always been divided on the merits and wisdom of such “tinkering”, as the author called it. But the general consensus on Wordsworth’s career has been that the radical young man is superior to the reactionary old codger; that the works of his first decade as a writer outweigh anything he composed thereafter. When Jonathan Bate reviewed the first edition of Gill’s biography in 1989, he praised the author’s unusual willingness to attend to the latter part of its subject’s life. “Instead of the poet’s declining into the vale of years, writing worse and worse poetry,” Bate then wrote, “we are presented with a man who is an increasingly powerful force in national culture and who continually revises his work with deliberate purpose, if mixed effect”.

Gill’s readiness to find interest and value in Wordsworth’s middle and old age is indeed one of the most rewarding aspects of his biography. He gives a sense of clarity and roundedness to the whole career, and explains that Wordsworth himself did not recognise different phases of his own writing life as separable from one another. Nor did he view his own poems as “discrete objects” belonging to a single moment: early, middle, or late. He did not think of himself as a man who had changed – this charge was the most serious of those brought against him by a younger generation of poets, who saw Wordsworth as reneging on his early revolutionary principles in order to retire into rural seclusion and a steady job – but as a man whose commitments had remained the same.

Bate’s professed view of 31 years ago, that Gill’s handling of later Wordsworth was one of the most valuable things about his work has not endured. Not, at least, as far as his own opinions are concerned. In Radical Wordsworth , Bate champions what he himself once dismissed as the worn-out view that “early equals good and late equals bad”.

Having announced at the outset that “the long life of Wordsworth tails off into monotony”, Bate encourages us to dismiss the poet’s maturity and old age as dull and forgettable. He also argues that “too often, biographies of Wordsworth have been depressed by trivial occupations and the round of ordinary intercourse. These are not the things that inspire great poetry.” On the contrary, it was Wordsworth’s most radical claim that apparently trivial things and people, the rhythms of ordinary life, were the stuff of true poetry. But for Bate, the Wordsworth who matters is the republican and the polemicist who attacked hereditary monarchy, argued for universal suffrage, and held his own government and legal system to account. His Wordsworth is an eco-warrior, the prophet of “a carbon-warmed atmosphere”.

One problem with this version of events is that, as Gill points out, most evidence of Wordsworth’s early, fiery convictions survives in the form of writings he chose not to publish himself. He was never sufficiently reckless to commit himself to the career of a political journalist. Considered in the light of his earliest experiences, such caution is hardly surprising. Wordsworth’s childhood was marked and shaped by a devastating loss of security. He devoted his adulthood to imposing a sense of order on his surroundings and coherence on his past, drawing strength and fortitude from domestic routine and shoring up a sense of his own identity through returning to and recasting his early experiences. Many readers may continue to rate his first thoughts over his second ones, but Wordsworth was constitutionally inclined to disagree: “My first expressions I often find detestable,” he wrote in a letter of 1814; “and it is frequently true of second words as of second thoughts, that they are the best.”

• Biography books
• William Wordsworth

Most viewed

(92) 336 3216666

[email protected]

William Wordsworth

In 1797, the Romantic Movement in English literature assumed its definite shape. William Wordsworth was among the founding members and the most significant figure of Romanticism in English Literature. He is recognized as a spiritual poet who has epistemological thought. He was the poet who focused on the relationship of humans to nature. He advocated the use of ordinary and everyday vocabulary and speech pattern poetry.

He started writing poetry when he was in grammar school. He went on a tour of Europe before graduation; this tour developed his affection for nature and compassion for an ordinary man. Nature and common man are the main themes of his poetry. Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and T.S Coleridge is marked as the founding stone of Romanticism. Moreover, his poem, “The Prelude,” is one of his best poems, relating the “growth of a poet’s mind.”

A Short Biography of William Wordsworth

William Wordsworth was born in Cumberland, England, on 7 th April 1770. At the age of 7, his mother died. Following the death of his mother, his father also died when he was 13 years old. Though he had lost a significant part of his life, he continued to perform well at the Hawkshead Grammar School. At Grammar School, he wrote his first poetry. After graduating from school, he went to Cambridge University for higher studies; however, he could not outshine and managed to graduate in 1791.

In 1790, during the French Revolution, Wordsworth visited France and supported the ideals of the new republican government. In 1791, on his return trip to France, he met Annette Vallon and fell in love with her. However, both were separated due to the declaration of war between the French and English in 1973. Wondering in England without any job, he was greatly influenced by activists like William Godwin. 

William Wordsworth as a Poet

Wordsworth received an inheritance in 1975 that made him live with his sister. In the same year, Wordsworth came across Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and they became good friends. They started working together on the most famous work of poetry, Lyrical Ballads, that was then published in 1798.   The volume was composed of the poems “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” by Coleridge and “Tintern Abbey” by Wordsworth.

Wordsworth also started writing The Prelude in 1798. The work is an auto-biological epic poem that he revised throughout his life. When he was working on The Prelude, he also wrote the poem “Lucy” and preface to the second edition of Lyrical Ballads . In the preface, he explained what poetry really is and said that it is “spontaneous overflow of powerful feeling and emotion, recollected in tranquility.” This preface was considered as the declaration of Romantic principles.

In 1802, the war between France and England had been stopped temporarily, and Wordsworth got a chance to see his beloved Vallon and their daughter, Caroline. When he returned to England, he married Mary Hutchinson. In 1803, their first child was born. Meanwhile, he was also writing poetry. The poetry he wrote in this time includes “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” and “Ode: Intimations of Immortality.” These poems published the collection of Two Volumes in 1807.

Between the years 1782 to 1808, Wordsworth wrote an immense number of poems, even the most touching that mourn the death of his two children. During this period, his creativity had reached a peak. The work that Wordsworth produced during this period made him one of the most acclaimed poets.

Developing Poetry, Philosophy, and Death

As Wordsworth was growing old, he started rejecting radicalism. In 1813, he was titled as “a distributor of stamps.” He moved with his family to a new place in the Lake District in the same years. In 1818, he started supporting the conservative Tories very enthusiastically.

Wordsworth became the poet laureate of England in 1843. He held this position until his death. He died at the age of 80, on 23 rd April 1850.

William Wordsworth’s Writing Style

The poetry Wordsworth has two fundamental features. These features are clearly outlined in his preface to the second edition of Lyrical Ballads. The first and important feature is the use of common language , as Wordsworth says, “ the language really used by men.”

His poetry was treated differently by the contemporary readers and critics as the diction employed by Wordsworth in his poem resembles that of the rough, illiterate peasants and villagers whom Wordsworth admired a lot. Before understating the distinctive characteristics of Wordsworth poetry, one must consider the poetic conventions before Romanticism; the poetry of the 18 th century uses high dictionary words with complex syntax.

Looking at the poetry of Wordsworth from this angle, his poetry has uncomplicated syntax , direct phrasing, and little illusion . For example, in the poem Daffodils , this aspect of his poetry is very obvious. The poem has an uncomplicated syntax and easy diction that readers, instead of reading, start singing it.

Wordsworth poetry is preoccupied with emotions . This is the second most important characteristic of his poetry that he discussed in his preface to the second edition of Lyrical Ballads. According to Wordsworth, poetry is “Spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings and emotions, recollected in tranquility.” 

According to him, the job of a poet is to examine his own self to recollect the powerful feelings of his life. These recollections include inspirational thoughts and events in his life that have greatly influenced him. Once these emotions are recollected, he then reorganizes them. The recollection of emotions is the most observable feature of the poetry of Wordsworth. His poetry is a result of the ordinary but moving thought.

One of the best examples of his sentimental poetry is his sonnet, “ Composed upon Westminster Bridge.” In the sonnet, the narrator is an admirer of nature and looks out at the busy industrial city of London to watch for the arresting beauty.

The unique styles of Wordsworth poetry are noticeable in his two most important works: Lyrical Ballads and The prelude. He wrote these two works in collaboration with S. T. Coleridge. These two works characterize the early style of young Wordsworth and the more advanced style of old Wordsworth. The style of Wordsworth in Lyrical Ballads is very emotional and contains natural scenes, whereas, in the epic The Prelude, his verses are composed of more ponderous and exhaustive thoughts on life and his relation to it.

His late poetry is also didactic, as he tried to instruct his readers. Though Keats’s style becomes a little complicated in his later poetry, it is this work that became the most influential works in the English Literature after the death of William Wordsworth. His poems, particularly The Prelude, have been quoted by various poets of the Victorian Era, including Tennyson. The opening verse of the epic poem The Prelude is the best example of his style. 

 Wordsworth style has been a debatable topic for many critics. To some critics, Wordsworth has two styles, as mentioned above, while some believed that he has more than two styles, whereas some say that he does not have any style at all.

Keats did not use any “ conceits” and “ inane phraseology ” in his poetry and devoted himself to free the poetry from such complications. Lytton Strachey says that the first poet who completely documented and intentionally accomplished the splendors of intense straightforwardness is William Wordsworth and this characteristic of his poetry that claims his fame. There is hardly any reader who cannot notice the beauty of his simplicity in his poetry. 

Though the style of Wordsworth is nobly plain, it also has some unique and unparalleled features. The subject of his poetry has profound sincerity and natural character , and Wordsworth himself experiences his subject profoundly. His poetry has elevated expression . For example, in the poem “Resolution and Independence,” he uses an elevated expression to catch the attention of his audience. 

Wordsworth would prefer to use an ascetic and unostentatious style in his poems. The power and completeness of this style require a more mature and considerate reader to appreciate. However, on many occasions, the simplicity of Wordsworth poetry declines to triviality. Though most of the time, the simplicity of Wordsworth poetry remains successful, some of his poetry contains plainness that has been called the bleat, the old, half-intelligent sheep. A strange inequality is created in the poetry of Wordsworth, which has been discussed by every critic.

His poetry lacks a sense of humor . This lack is responsible for the triviality in his poetry. The reason for the lack of humor is his blend of grandeur and immaturity in his poetic theory. Though he claims to use simple ordinary language, he also portrays coloring imagery in his poetry. 

Luckily the splendid imagination of William Wordsworth was repeatedly excessively influential for his principle, and he unintentionally overlooks it completely in his best works.

Works Of William Wordsworth

• The Tables Turned

33 William Wordsworth Facts: All About This English Poet Megastar!

The entire world is full of cultures as well as literature.

Literature is the way of life. It is the literature that teaches us the style of living.

English literature has been one of the prominent kinds of literature among all the other works of literature of the world. There were many famous poets in English literature. William Wordsworth is noted as one the most famous poets of English literature. He was a poet of the Romantic Age.

William Wordsworth was one of the greatest English Romantic poets of English literature. Talking about his early life- his parents were named John Wordsworth and Ann Cookson. William Wordsworth was one of their five children. The name of Wordsworth's beloved sister was Dorothy Wordsworth. Dorothy's journals are very famous as well.

Do you know where Wordsworth lived? Well, William Wordsworth lived in the northwestern part of England known as the Lake District and this is one of the reasons that he is known as a lake poet.

William Wordsworth had brothers named, John, Richard, and Christopher. His brother John was a captain of a ship, while Richard was a lawyer and Christopher a scholar. William Wordsworth's wife's name was Mary Hutchinson.

William Wordsworth suffered from an ailment related to the inability to smell and was orphaned at a young age as both his parents had died by the time he was 15 years old. At that time, his four siblings were sent to stay with different relatives.

Did you know that Wordsworth is the only Poet Laureate of Britain to write no official verses? Read on for such interesting facts about Wordsworth's life and his beloved sister Dorothy's journal. Afterward, also check William Turner artist facts and facts about Pablo Picasso .

William Wordsworth Fun Facts

William Wordsworth was born to John Wordsworth and Ann Cookson in northwestern England called the Lake District. The Romantic period sparkles the name of William Wordsworth. Do you know about the poems that Wordsworth wrote? Let us explore some fascinating William Wordsworth facts about the icon of English poetry.

William Wordsworth was one of the Romantic poets in English literature and is even known to start the Romantic movement in English literature. He was basically an English poet in the Romantic period.

Do you know about his sister Dorothy Wordsworth? Dorothy Wordsworth was the sister of the famous poet from whom young William remained separate for many years after the death of their parents. But when they reconciled and met again, they never parted ways again.

Do you know where William Wordsworth lived? For some time William Wordsworth used to live in France and Germany. However, he and his sister shifted to the Dove cottage where they lived up to 1808.

You may have read or heard the famous lines from his poem I wandered lonely as a cloud. His poem, I wandered lonely as a cloud, was a well-known poem by William Wordsworth.

Being a poet of the Romantic period, Wordsworth's poetry is full of romantic elements.

Between 1795–1797, Wordsworth wrote his only play, The Borderers, a neoclassical verse tragedy set during the reign of King Henry III of England.

Literature Facts About William Wordsworth

William Wordsworth was one of the greatest poets of the English literary period. He was very famous till the half of the 19th century. William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge together are known to be the beginners of the English Romantic Age.

William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge are known among the renowned English poets. William Wordsworth along with Samuel Taylor Coleridge is known to have started the English Romantic Age.

Following the death of Robert Southey, William Wordsworth became a Poet Laureate of Britain in the year 1843. He originally declined the honor, saying that he was too old, but accepted when the Prime Minister, Robert Peel, convinced him that "you shall have nothing needed of you". William Wordsworth received a government pension too.

William Wordsworth along with Samuel Taylor Coleridge started the publication of Lyrical Ballads in the year 1798. It was the publication of Lyrical Ballads that started the Romantic movement in English literature.

The name of the autobiographical poem of Wordsworth is Prelude. His widow, Mary, distributed his lengthy autobiographical poem many months after his death. Though it failed to interest people at the time, it has since come to be widely perceived as his masterwork.

William Wordsworth composed approximately 387 poems throughout his lifetime.

Have you ever heard of the English poet William Blake? William Blake and William Wordsworth are two different poets with two different points of view.

William Wordsworth's Family And Upbringing

William Wordsworth was the Poet Laureate of Great Britain in the year 1843. Do you want to know some interesting William Wordsworth facts? What about his early life? Let us together explore some interesting aspects of the life of the famous poet.

William Wordsworth's father's name is John Wordsworth and the name of his mother is Ann Cookson.

William Wordsworth was born on April 7 in the year 1770 in northwestern England which is called the Lake District.

Mary Hutchinson was the wife of William Wordsworth and the name of the child of William Wordsworth and Mary Hutchinson was Dora Wordsworth.

The Wordsworth house is a townhouse located in Cumbria in England.

William Wordsworth's Most Famous Lyrics

William Wordsworth was among one of the greatest and renowned poets in English literature. He was one of the greatest poets of the Romantic Age.

He has written a number of lyrics and poems but what are some of the best Wordsworth poems? Do you know any of them? Let us share some interesting details about his most famous lyrics.

William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge together published the Lyrical Ballads. The Lyrical Ballads was a joint publication by Wordsworth and Coleridge that came out in the year 1798.

A number of poems and lyrics have been written by William Wordsworth. Some of them include- The Prelude, Tintern Abbey, Ode: Intimations of Immortality, Ode to Duty, London 1802 and I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud.

Have you heard about Tintern Abbey? Tintern Abbey is one of the famous poems of William Wordsworth. Tintern Abbey is a long poem. This famous poem was published in 1798 and is based on a small village of Tintern in Monmouthshire.

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud (commonly known as ‘Daffodils’) is among the other well-known poems of William Wordsworth. In the poem, he essentially led readers through events in the order they really happened. Also, the central idea of the poem is in its last line. Furthermore, it is also one of the long poems of William Wordsworth.

Here at Kidadl , we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for William Wordsworth facts then why not take a look at William Tyndale facts , or William Wallace facts.

We Want Your Photos!

More for you, world poetry day, 85 best shakespeare puns, jokes and one-liners, 36 illinois facts: history, geography, and more.

Master of Computer Science

Abhijeet Modi Master of Computer Science

An experienced and innovative entrepreneur and creative writer, Abhijeet holds a Bachelor's and Master's degree in Computer Application from Birla Institute of Technology, Jaipur. He co-founded an e-commerce website while developing his skills in content writing, making him an expert in creating blog posts, website content, product descriptions, landing pages, and editing articles. Passionate about pushing his limits, Abhijeet brings both technical expertise and creative flair to his work.

1) Kidadl is independent and to make our service free to you the reader we are supported by advertising. We hope you love our recommendations for products and services! What we suggest is selected independently by the Kidadl team. If you purchase using the Buy Now button we may earn a small commission. This does not influence our choices. Prices are correct and items are available at the time the article was published but we cannot guarantee that on the time of reading. Please note that Kidadl is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon. We also link to other websites, but are not responsible for their content.

2) At Kidadl, we strive to recommend the very best activities and events. We will always aim to give you accurate information at the date of publication - however, information does change, so it’s important you do your own research, double-check and make the decision that is right for your family. We recognise that not all activities and ideas are appropriate for all children and families or in all circumstances. Our recommended activities are based on age but these are a guide. We recommend that these ideas are used as inspiration, that ideas are undertaken with appropriate adult supervision, and that each adult uses their own discretion and knowledge of their children to consider the safety and suitability. Kidadl cannot accept liability for the execution of these ideas, and parental supervision is advised at all times, as safety is paramount. Anyone using the information provided by Kidadl does so at their own risk and we can not accept liability if things go wrong.

3) Because we are an educational resource, we have quotes and facts about a range of historical and modern figures. We do not endorse the actions of or rhetoric of all the people included in these collections, but we think they are important for growing minds to learn about under the guidance of parents or guardians.

google form TBD

• Skip to primary navigation
• Skip to main content
• Skip to primary sidebar
• Skip to footer

KidsKonnect

Reading Comprehension Cause and Effect Context Clues Compare and Contrast

Noun Worksheets Writing Prompts Compound Words Figurative Language

The Wizard of Oz Hans Christian Andersen Types of Writing Text Structure

Literary Devices

Alliteration Hyperbole Metaphor Irony

Subject Verb Agreement Poetry Climax Rhyme

View all reading worksheets

Action Verbs Tragedy Transition Words Phonics

View all writing worksheets

Dramatic Irony Cacophony Anaphora Setting

View all literature worksheets

Abbreviations Transition Words Conclusion Situational Irony

View all literary device worksheets

Women’s History

Inspirational Women Women's History Month First Lady of the US Women's Equality Day International Women's Day

View all Women's History worksheets

American Revolution

American Revolution Patriots & Loyalists Patrick Henry Sons of Liberty

View all American Revolution worksheets

US Constitution US Independence Trail of Tears The Pilgrims

View all US History worksheets

Ancient History

Ancient China Ancient Mayan Ancient Rome Ancient Aztec

View all Ancient History worksheets

World History

Roaring Twenties Industrial Revolution Middle Ages The Renaissance

View all World History worksheets

Famous Wars

World War 1 World War 2 Vietnam War American Civil War

View all Famous War worksheets

Anne Frank Sally Ride Neil Armstrong Christopher Columbus

View all famous figure worksheets

Joe Biden Donald Trump Abraham Lincoln George Washington

View all President worksheets

Roald Dahl Dr Seuss JK Rowling Michael Morpurgo

View all author worksheets

Civil Rights

Rosa Parks Sojourner Truth Medger Evers Martin Luther King

Elvis Presley Johann Sebastian Bach Ella Fitzgerald Wolfgang Mozart

View all musician worksheets

Thomas Edison Albert Einstein Henry Ford Wright Brothers

View all inventor worksheets

Muhammad Ali Michael Jordan Jackie Robinson Jesse Owens

View all athlete worksheets

Nat Turner Ruby Bridges Harriet Tubman Booker T Washington Malcolm X

View all civil rights worksheets

Natural Wonders

River Nile Mount Everest Sahara Desert Mount Etna Ancient Pyramids Amazon River

Landmarks/Sights

Mount Rushmore Statue Of Liberty White House Stonehenge Great Wall of China Santa Fe Trail

New York Texas South Carolina Alaska Nevada Ohio

Australia United Kingdom China Canada Argentina Brazil

Mount Fuji Mississippi River Rocky Mountains Volcano Glacier The Great Barrier Reef

View all natural wonders worksheets

Hoover Dam Bermuda Triangle Leaning Tower Of Pisa Arc De Triomphe Golden Gate Bridge Colosseum

View all landmark worksheets

California Colorado Indiana Florida Washington Georgia

View all US state worksheets

Poland Greece Philippines Japan France India

View all country worksheets

May Day Cinco de Mayo Teachers’ Appreciation Day Mother’s Day Memorial Day Mexican-American War Lewis and Clark The Tea Act of 1773 Haymarket Square Riot Beltane

View all Seasonal worksheets

Social Emotional Learning

Morals and Values Self Management Ethics Depression Relationship Skills Self-Awareneess Self-Esteem Emotions and Feelings Goal-Setting Interpersonal Skills

View all Social-Emotional Learning worksheets

Celebrations

Easter Saint Patrick’s Day Valentines Day Chinese New Year Rosh Hashanah Thanksgiving Flag Day Cinco de Mayo Beginning Of Lent Yom Kippur View all Celebrations worksheets

Remembrance

Pearl Harbor Day Veterans’ Day Memorial Day Battle Of The Somme D-Day 9/11 Anzac Day Martin Luther King Jr. Day International Women’s Day Victoria Day View all Remembrance worksheets

Camels Fox Bears Penguin Wolf Beavers Mountain Lion Red Panda Snow Leopard White Tigers Silverback Gorilla Okapi

View all mammal worksheets

Marine Life

Crabs Starfish Fish Octopus Great White Shark Dolphin Walrus Narwhal Megalodon Shark Killer Whale Beluga Whale Lionfish

View all marine life worksheets

Insects/Invertebrates/Reptiles

Millipede Praying Mantis Ladybug Ants Spider Iguana Chameleon Komodo Dragon Lizard Bearded Dragon Gila Monster Snakes

View all insect worksheets

Eagle Peregrine Falcon Snowy Owl Emu Woodpecker Albatross Swan Quail Bald Eagle Hummingbird Peacock

View all Bird worksheets

Natural World

Avalanche Flood Tsunami Natural Disasters Fossils Ice Age

View all natural world worksheets

Earth Sciences

Water Cycle Global Warming Deciduous Forests Hurricane Sandy Hurricane Katrina Global Warming

View all earth science worksheets

Food Chain Fossils Photosynthesis Cells Ecosystem Plants

View all biology worksheets

Solar System Black Holes Eclipse Stars and Constellations The Moon Comets

View all space worksheets

Chemistry/Physics

Magnetism Graduated Cylinders Solid, Liquid, Gas Gravity Light Sound

View all science worksheets

Kangaroo Horse Bear Lion Lizard Octopus

View all animal worksheets

Addition Sentences Single Digital Addition Two-Digit Addition Three Digit Addition Repeated Addition

View all Addition Worksheets

Ordinal Numbers Cardinal Numbers Rounding Numbers Odd & Even Numbers Comparing Numbers

View all Numbers Worksheets

Counting Money Subtracting Money Change Money Coin Name & Value Calculate Change (Money)

View all Money Worksheets

Number Line Single Digit Subtraction Place Value Subtraction Sentences Input & Output Tables

View all Math Worksheets

William Wordsworth Facts & Worksheets

William wordsworth was a leading romantic poet at the end of the 18th century. his epic autobiographical poem, the prelude, is considered one of the remarkable achievements of english romanticism., search for worksheets, download the william wordsworth facts & worksheets.

Click the button below to get instant access to these worksheets for use in the classroom or at a home.

Download This Worksheet

This download is exclusively for KidsKonnect Premium members! To download this worksheet, click the button below to signup (it only takes a minute) and you'll be brought right back to this page to start the download! Sign Me Up

Edit This Worksheet

Editing resources is available exclusively for KidsKonnect Premium members. To edit this worksheet, click the button below to signup (it only takes a minute) and you'll be brought right back to this page to start editing! Sign Up

This worksheet can be edited by Premium members using the free Google Slides online software. Click the Edit button above to get started.

Download This Sample

This sample is exclusively for KidsKonnect members! To download this worksheet, click the button below to signup for free (it only takes a minute) and you'll be brought right back to this page to start the download! Sign Me Up

Table of Contents

See the fact file below for more information on William Wordsworth or alternatively, you can download our comprehensive worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.

• William Wordsworth was born on April 7, 1770, in Cockermouth, Cumberland, England. He was the second child of John Wordsworth and Ann Cookson. At the age 13, William and his four siblings became orphans. Despite their misfortune, he attended the Hawkshead Grammar School where he first fell in love with poetry. After a few years, he entered St. John’s College in Cambridge until he graduated in 1791.
• In 1790, amidst the French Revolution, Wordsworth visited France. He witnessed the power of poetry and ideals of politics. In addition, Wordsworth also visited Switzerland and Italy.
• While in France, Wordsworth became interested in the struggles and language of the common people. He also met and fell in love with Annette Vallon, with whom he had a daughter, Caroline, out of wedlock. By 1793, the two separated after the declaration of war between England and France. That same year, his earliest poetry was published in the collections, An Evening Walk and Descriptive Sketches.
• By 1802, Wordsworth returned to France with his sister Dorothy.
• He finally met his daughter, Caroline. Later that year, he married Mary Hutchinson, another French woman, with whom he had five children.

William Wordsworth’s Literary Career

• In 1795, he met poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge. They became friends and worked together to publish Lyrical Ballads (1798). Their collection of poetry included Coleridge’s Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Wordsworth’s Tintern Abbey.
• Wordsworth tried to use language that the common people would understand. He emphasized the existing social hierarchy of those times.
• After the publication of Lyrical Ballads, he started writing The Prelude. The Prelude is an autobiographical poem in blank verse that depicts one’s love for nature and spiritual life. It consisted of 14 books that were revised several times and published posthumously. Many believed that it gave birth to a new genre of poetry.
• In 1796, Wordsworth wrote his only play, The Borderers. The tragedy was set during King Henry III’s reign, when Scottish rovers were in conflict with England’s north.
• Wordsworth, Coleridge and Dorothy travelled to Germany in 1798. Despite homesickness, he was able to write The Lucy Poems. After a year, he went back to England with his sister. At the Lake District, Coleridge and Wordsworth met another poet, Robert Southey. They came to be known as the Lake Poets.
• By 1803, he wrote I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud and Ode: Intimations of Immortality, which were published in 1807, as part of his Poems in Two Volumes.
• Following the death of two of his young children in 1812, Wordsworth produced works that moved one’s emotions. The successive deaths of his colleagues, William Green (1823), Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Charles Lamb (1834), and James Hogg (1835), added to the deep melancholy of Wordsworth. The main themes of his works encompassed death, separation, and abandonment.
• In 1818, Wordsworth’s philosophical maturity began to emerge, as he became a supporter of the conservative Tories.
• By 1838, the University of Durham gave Wordsworth an honorary doctorate degree in Civil Law. After a year, the University of Oxford did the same.
• The sudden death of his daughter, Dora, in 1847, devastated him and he lost the will to write anymore.

Death and Legacy

• On April 23, 1850, William Wordsworth died of pleurisy at his home at Rydal Mount, Westmorland, England. He was buried at St. Oswald’s Church, Grasmere.
• Several months after his death, his widow, Mary, published The Prelude, also known as Poem to Coleridge.
• In 1843, he became the only Poet Laureate to write no official verses.
• Some of his poems include Upon Westminster Bridge (1801), Miscellaneous Sonnets (1807), The Excursion (1814), Peter Bell (1819), The River Duddon (1820), Yarrow Revisited (1835), and The Recluse (1888).

William Wordsworth Worksheets

This bundle includes 11 ready-to-use William Wordsworth worksheets that are perfect for students to learn about William Wordsworth who was a leading Romantic poet at the end of the 18th century. His epic autobiographical poem, The Prelude, is considered one of the remarkable achievements of English Romanticism.

This download includes the following worksheets:

• William Wordsworth Facts
• Poet Laureate
• Fellow Romantics
• Literary Movements
• French Revolution
• Words Worth
• I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud
• The Prelude: Emotions
• Figure of Speech
• Poetry Card
• In Memory Of

Link/cite this page

If you reference any of the content on this page on your own website, please use the code below to cite this page as the original source.

Link will appear as William Wordsworth Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, March 1, 2020

Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

Related Resources

KidsKonnect is a growing library of high-quality, printable worksheets for teachers and homeschoolers.

Home Facts Privacy About Blog Contact Terms

Safe & Secure

We pride ourselves on being a safe website for both teachers and students. KidsKonnect uses a secure SSL connection to encrypt your data and we only work with trusted payment processors Stripe and PayPal.