William Wordsworth biography His mother died when he

William Wordsworth

biography His mother died when he was 8 Went to school at Hawkshead Where Wordsworth and Coleridge were to become the poetic center of England Boarded in the cottage of Anne Tyson Had a simple life Allowed to roam in the countryside A vigorous, willful and sometimes moody boy Spent “half the nights” “drinking in” the natural sights and sounds described in the first two books of The Prelude. Getting to know the shepherds and wanderers who appear in his poetry later

Tour to France In his 3 rd year in Cambridge, went on a tour to France and Alps with Robert Jones Described in The Prelude Went to London for four months Returned France to learn the language Became a democrat and a proselyte of the French Revolution

Love life and emotional breakdown A passionate love affair with Annette Vallon Married despite radical difference in religious and political views Had a daughter Returned to England because of financial problems Outbreak of war with France Impossibility of return to France Had an emotional breakdown because of Agonies of guilt regarding his marital affairs His divided loyalties between England France His disillusionment with French Revolution The experiences which underlie most of his poems: His suffering His near collapse His successful effort to reestablish a “saving intercourse with my true self”

Friendship with Coleridge His friend died and left him money Rented a cottage with his sister Dorothy, his secretaries, inspirer and confidante Met Coleridge Wrote Descriptive Sketches About his tour to Alps Coleridge found his talent there Named him : the best poet of the age” They talked for hours about poetry Had no sense of proprietorship in writing poems We find the same phrases used by one in the other poet’s works They completed each other’s poems Lyrical Ballads: the result of their joint efforts Opened with Coleridge’s Ancient Mariner Continued with Wordsworth’s anecdotes and psychological studies of humble people Ended with Wordsworth’s descriptive meditative poem in blank verse: “Tintern Abbey” The book announces a new literary departure A new style and a new spirit in poetry

Second edition to Lyrical Ballads Published two years later, in 1800 added a second volume of poems, written during a friendless winter Wrote a preface to the second edition with the help of Coleridge Stated the principles of new criticism And the rationale for this new poetry

Wordsworth’s last years Disastrous events Drowning of his favorite brother John (1805) Death of two of his children Gradual estrangement from Coleridge culminating in an open quarrel, not reconciling until after 2 decades Physical and mental decline of his sister Dorothy Recognized as a national poet Became the poet laureate Died at the age of 80 Then they published his The Prelude An autobiographical poem In two parts A poem in epic length With epic seriousness About the growth of the poet’s own mind.

Romantic features in Wordsworth’s The Prelude 1. poet= a bard, “a chosen son, ” a poet-prophet a. A spokesman of traditional Western civilization at a time of crisis and dismay. 2. Poems= Like the Bible a. Sets the grounds of hope b. Promises a time when renewed humanity inhabits a renovated earth feeling at home 3. Poem= a long book about formation of the self a. with a metaphor of an interior journey b. In the quest of one’s true identity and spiritual home c. Centered on a crisis

Wordsworth’s best poetry His best poetry was written until 1807 After that: his anti-climax a decline of his poetic powers although he wrote voluminously Because of the nature of his writing A poet of remembrance of things past A present event renews a past feeling Exhibiting sharp discrepancies between “two consciousnesses” Wordsworth as he is now Wordsworth as he once was An emotional past with turmoil ordered in a calmer present achieved through hardships The result: a poetry of exultation in calm

Wordsworth’s critical writing He writes after the shattered French Revolution After the hierarchical society of the 18 th century So He speaks no to people from a certain class, but to man Kings and princes: not the noblest subject of poetry No decorum in writing Poet: a man speaking to men talking about the incidents of the common life Talking in a language spoken by men

Wordsworth’s poetic language Speaks in language spoken by the common man Against Dante Attempting to give polish to the rough medieval language Doesn’t believe in poetic diction Uses the language of farmers Because they are in touch with nature Man in the nature Better than Man in the city

His Romantic tendencies Against neoclassical preferences Against neoclassical rules Against poetic diction Against personification of abstract ideas

What is a poet? A man speaking to men With greater knowledge of human nature With a comprehensive soul With certain gifts not common among mankind With more lively sensibility, enthusiasm and tenderness Pleased with his own passions Rejoicing in the spirit of life Poet: not maker and not necessarily learned Individualism of the poet becomes important

What is poetry and its purpose? Its purpose: Not to teach Spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings No longer a matter of rules Not a product of intellect but of imagination (“the finer spirit of all knowledge”) Good poetry: “spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings” “recollected in tranquility” In a language no different from prose except in its meter

Why use meter? Not a satisfactory answer Because Meter puts bounds on excitement brought by poetry But this is not true: meter intensifies emotion

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