William Wordsworth [1770-1850]
Born in Cockermouth, England was the pioneer and central figure
of the English poetry in the Romantic Era, his effort was a brief flowering
of
creative
spirit
midway
between
the
collapse
of
18 th
century
authoritarianism and of the Victorian Era.
His contribution to literature was threefold. Firstly formulated a
new attitude towards nature. Secondly, he probed deeply into his own
sensibility, and during his time poetry was central to human experience.
In his own words it is nothing less than "the first and last of all human
knowledge. It is as immortal as the heart of man." Once, De Quincy
wrote of Wordsworth; "Up to 1820 the name of Wordsworth was
trampled underfoot; from 1820 to 1830 it was militant; from 1830 to
1835 it has been triumphant." According to Byron and Shelly, he was
simple and dull. Keats doubted what he called the egotistical sublime
Hazlitt and Browning deplored him as The Lost Leader, who gave up his
early radical faith. However, their allegations were counterbalanced by
the enormous and lasting popularity of his poetry’s, which according to
Mathew Arnold, is "an expression in an age of doubt of the transcendent
in nature and the good in man."
Thus, Wordsworth, who was able to create some of the greatest
English poetry of his century undoubtedly, matched the creativity of John
Milton, who stands next only to Shakespeare in the world of English
Literature and Poetry.
Lyrical Ballads
It was a collection of poems by Wordsworth and Coleridge. The
first edition appeared in 1798, the second with new poems and a preface
in 1801 and a third in 1802. The book was a landmark of English
Romanticism
and
also
the
beginning
of
a
new
age.
Coleridge’s
contributions to the first edition were The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.
The Foster Mother’s Tale. The Nightingale and The Dungeon. However the
major contribution came from Wordsworth with ballads and narratives
such as The Thorn, The Idiot Boy and Simon Lee, the old Hunts man and
more personal poem’s such as Lines written in early spring and Lines
written
in
few
miles
above
Tintern
Abbey.
It
contained
a
brief
‘Advertisement’ by Wordsworth, stating his theory of poetic diction and
attacking the gaudy and ‘inane phraseology of many modern writers’, his
views were more clear in his important preface to the second edition, and
enlarged
again in
1802. The poems
had
a distinctly provocative
manifesto. They were written mainly with a view to ascertain how far the
language of conversation in the middle and lower closes of society is
adapted to the purpose of poetic pleasure. However their ‘low’ subjects
as well as the language and the so-called banality were subjected to
much
ridicule.
The
second
volume
of
the
second
edition
had
Wordsworth’s most distinctive works, including the so-called Lucy,
Poems, The Old Cumberland Begger, and Micheal, a Pastoral; Contrary to
the conventional sentiment, Wordsworth could be said to have entered
more seriously into humble and childish passions than was common. Also
he was the Pioneer in questioning the language used in Poetry.
The Prelude (Growth of a Poets Mind)
It’s an autobiographical poem in blank verse by Wordsworth,
addressed to Coleridge. It was begun in 1798-99 and finished in 1805
before being published in 1850. Though a profound autobiography, the
poem does not proceed chronologically, dealing with infancy, school
days, Cambridge, his walking tour through the Alps, his political
awakening
in
France
and
consequent
horrors
etc.
His
onerously
meticulous revisions seem to run counter to his own idea of good poetry
as ‘the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings’. But the word
spontaneous meant voluntary overflow’.
The Thrust of The Prelude is retrospective and not outward
towards the world. Wordsworth aim is to draw his spiritual development
in terms of relationship with nature. Nature became a living force for
Wordsworth.
1770
1779
1787
1790
1791
1792
1793
1795
1797
Chronology
Wordsworth born.
Entered Hawkshead Grammar School.
Entered St. John’s College, Cambridge.
Traveled to France and Switzerland.
Left Cambridge with a pass degree went to Orleans to study
French.
Visited Paris and afterwards left France.
Wordsworth returned to London. Published An Evening Walk and
Descriptive Sketches journeyed across Salisbury Plain to Tintern
and Northwales.
Met Coleridge and William Godwin. Settled with Dorothy at
Racedown Lodge Dorset.
Completed The Ruined Cottage. Visited by Coleridge at Racedown.
1798
1799
1800
1802
1803
1807
1808
1809
1810
1811
1812
1813
1814
1815
1817
1818
1819
1820
1822
1827
1828
1831
1834
Publication of Lyrical Ballads.
Began The Prelude
Landed at Hamburg with Coleridge.
Settled with Dorothy at Dove cottage.
Second volume of Lyrical Ballard completed.
Wordsworth married Mary Hutchinson.
Journeyed to Scotland with Dorothy and Coleridge.
Poems in two volumes published.
Left Dove Cottage for Allan Bank.
On the Convention of Cintra published.
Quarreled with Coleridge.
Moved to the Rectory, Grasmere.
Reconciled to Coleridge.
Settled permanently at Rydal Mount.
Appointed distributor of stamp for Westmorland.
The Excursion published.
Published his collected Poems and The White Doe of Rylstone.
Met John Keats at Haydon’s house in London.
Published Pamphlets on Tory side of election.
Peter Bell and The Waggoner published.
Duddon Sonnets published.
Ecclesiastical Sketches and A description of the Scenery of the
Lakes published.
Poetical Work published.
Continental tour with Coleridge.
Last meeting with Coleridge.
Wordsworth died.