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THE BIOGRAPHIC OF WILLIAM WORDSWORTH William Wordsworth was an early leader of Romanticism a literary movement that celebrated nature and concentrated on human emotions in English poetry

Assignment on English and American literature

Love of William Wordsworth for nature

William Wordsworth’s home

The period of Romanticism covers approximately 30 years, beginning from the last decade of the 18th century and continuing up to the 1830s In his lever to F.Engels,

of March 25, 1868, Karl Marx stated that Romanticism literature was a reaction of difference strata of society to the French Bourgeois Revolution and to the

Enlightenment connected with it The people were disappointed with the outcome

of the Revolution The common people did not obtain the liberty, fraternity which they had hoped for; the bourgeoisie found that the reality was not what the

Enlighteners had promised it to be, although the revolution had paved the way for capitalist development

THE BIOGRAPHIC OF WILLIAM WORDSWORTH

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 Cockermouth,

Cumberland – a part of a region with many landscapes in northwest England, the Lake District He was the second child in the five children family He has four siblings: William was born after Richard - the eldest, next to William was Dorothy, after Dorothy was John, and the youngest was Christopher In four siblings,

Dorothy was closed all life to William Dorothy had especially fresh contact to nature from a very early age Her thoughts and impression were a valuable source

of inspiration for her brother, who also introduced himself as Nature's child The first time she saw the sea, she burst into tears, "indicating the sensibility for which she was so remarkable," Wordsworth remembered All these five children involve little with their, and they would be distant with him until his death in 1783

After the death of their mother, in 1778, John Wordsworth sent William to Hawkshead Grammar School and Dorothy to live with relatives in Yorkshire; she and William would not meet again for another nine years Then he had attended a tiny school of low quality in Cockermouth After the Cockermouth school, he was sent to a school in Penrith for the children of upper-class families Here,

Wordsworth met the Hutchinsons, and Mary, who would be his future wife

In grammar school, Wordsworth showed his 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 to some Europe countries: 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 travelled to France in November 1791, he was influenced by the

revolutionary passion in France He wanted to improve his French His experience

in France just after the French Revolution (1789; French overthrew the ruling

monarchy) reinforced his sympathy for common people and his belief in political freedom

Wordsworth passionately fell in love with Annette Vallon a French girl She gave birth to their daughter in December 1792 However, Wordsworth had spent his limited funds and was forced to return home Their 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) They published together “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 in natural description with a genuinely mystical 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 in mixing 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

Undoubtedly, Wordsworth's poetry is 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

LOVE OF WORDSWORTH FOR NATURE

Wordsworth is considered a poet of nature He soon showed his deep interest in nature His poems usually focused on the poor, the children, the common man… especially the nature Partly, the beautiful landscapes of his hometown affected deeply to him, partly he was influenced by the close contact to nature of his sister Dorothy

Like other poets of the period of romanticism, Wordsworth wanted to hide himself from civilization industrial, complex life, crowed cities, and the nature is the best place for him to hide

Wordsworth fell in line with nature In “the daffodils” he compared himself like a cloud wandering and moving lonely “on high o’er the valleys and hills” without a clear destination Suddenly, he saw daffodils along the bank of a lake underneath the shadow of the trees Daffodils the first flower of spring made him forget

everything of life, just wanted to cheer up with them:

“I wandered lonely as a cloud (simile)

That floats on high o’er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,”

Although the daffodils appeared very simply, but in the vivid imagination of the

poet they were very brilliant At first sight, the poet was fascinated by the long and vast field of the daffodils

“Fluttering and dancing in the breeze (Personification)

Continuous as the stars that shine”

The poet used the simile subtly that gave readers the imagination of countless shining stars

“Continuous as the stars that shine”

The field of daffodils, that created a beautifully scenery, seemingly stretched in unending lines They were very excited and merry in “sprightly dance”

“And twinkle on the milky way, (simile)

They stretched in never-ending line

Along the margin of a bay:

Ten thousand saw I at a glance

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.” (personification)

However, daffodil is just a kind of plant, through the poet’s eyes it became a lively

creature The golden daffodils can toss their heads and dance They can do

activities like human does The poet used personification for daffodils perfectly.

The beauty of the daffodils made the poet sink into happy and excited:

“The waves beside them danced; but they

Out-did the sparkling waves in glee;

A poet could not but the gay,

In such a jocund company;

I gazed – and gazed – but little thought

What wealth the show to me had brought:” (metaphor)

The poet forgot his present life, he just wallowed in the happiness together with the daffodils He joyfully became a friend of the golden daffodils which gave him a warm welcome and valuable experience:

“A poet could not but the gay,

In such a jocund company;”

The poet left his loneliness aside and looked the daffodils tenderly He believed that daffodil’s charm was a great gift and no fortune was as wonderful as the

beauty granted by the God:

“I gazed – and gazed – but little thought

What wealth the show to me had brought:” (metaphor)

Though the poet had come back home but the image of the daffodils always fill in his heart Whenever he remembered the daffodils, his heart was filled with

pleasure and happiness And the poet seemed to dance with the daffodils in his imagination:

“For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude; (oxymoron)

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils.”

Wordsworth accomplished the poem splendidly by using many techniques as

hyperbole, simile, comparison, figurative language, oxymoron and personification

to describe the daffodils The language of the poem “the daffodils” is very creative

and flexible, which prove the impact of the revolution in literary language use to Wordsworth.

In the “To the cuckoo”, the poet experienced another image of nature, the cuckoo

bird and her beautiful voice The poet had described a beautiful and lovely cuckoo singing in the sky and the cry of the bird gives the poet a lot of romantic thought The cuckoo reminded the poet of his innocence childhood He usually searched for

it for many hours.

O blithe new-comer! I have heard,

I hear thee and rejoice,

O Cuckoo! shall I call thee Bird,

Or but a wandering Voice?

In the first stanza, the poet uttered joyfully when hearing the voice of the cuckoo

bird which he has known before:

“Oh blithe newcomer! I have heard,

I hear thee and rejoice,”

The poet wondered whether he should label it as just a bird, or it’s just a

“wandering voice” which is a creature bigger than his comprehension.

“O Cuckoo! shall I call thee Bird,

Or but a wandering Voice?”

While lying on the grass, the poet heard the cuckoo cry around the hills where he was lying The cuckoo’s cry seemed very far but maybe very near to the poet Her voice passed around the space made the poet submerge into her song

While I am lying on the grass

Thy twofold shout I hear;

From hill to hill it seems to pass

At once far off, and near

This bird’s voice had much attached to it than one could perceive

To me, no Babbler with a tale

The cuckoo was portrayed is not a meaningless creature with a story about flowers and sunshine, as most cuckoo’s song would be:

“Of sunshine and of flowers,”

The bird sang the story of “visionary hours” Wordsworth’s past has an attachment

to the cuckoo’s song:

“Thou tallest, Cuckoo! In the vale

Of visionary hours”

The poet welcomed the cuckoo happily, he considered cuckoo like a darling of the

spring The spring is the best season in four seasons When spring comes, nature becomes fresh, happy again And the cuckoo starts crying with all its ability:

“Thrice welcome, darling of the spring!

Even ye thou art to me

No bird, but an invisible thing,

A voice a mystery;”

Although the poet can not see the cuckoo, he believed that the cuckoo’s voice was mystery

This 2 stanza, The cuckoo seemingly brought back the poet’s memories Its voice made the poet remember his golden schoolboy days, the time he usually heard the dong of the cuckoo, yet he could not find it even though he had sought it in

“thousand ways” He truly want to find the bird, “ a love”:

“The same whom in my schoolboy days

I listened to; that Cry

Which made me look a thousand ways

In bush, and tree, and sky

To seek thee did I often rove

Through woods and on the green;