Title: William Wordsworth Biography
Headings: William Wordsworth Biography | Poet
William Wordsworth Biography | Poet
Content: Wordsworth and Coleridge shared a deep passion for nature and for ideas relating to humanity, liberty, and restoration of the soul. The two took long walks through the Quantock hills and it was during these strolls that they came up with the idea for a brand new type of anthology. It would be called Lyrical Ballads and it would usher in a new age of poetry, characterised by the power of imagination, the natural world, and pastoral life. Whilst it was initially treated with no small degree of vitriol from critics – who labelled it an ‘irresponsible flaunting of poetic convention’ – it was popular with many of the more radical writers like William Hazlitt. Over time, the public reaction to Lyrical Ballads changed and critics began to take a closer look at its moral and philosophical puzzles. It is now considered to be one of the most influential poetry anthologies of all time and pieces like Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Tintern Abbey are celebrated as a rebellion against the unstoppable march of the Industrial Revolution. In 1799, Wordsworth and his sister decided to make the Lake District their permanent home and it was not long before Coleridge and his family followed. One of his most admired poems, I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud was composed here, in 1804. During this time, Wordsworth wed childhood friend Mary Hutchinson, but life was set to be unkind to the pair. Over the next few years, two of their children passed away and Wordsworth lost his brother to an accident at sea – his sister also experienced a breakdown.