William Wordsworth was born in Cockermouth, Cumberland, in the Lake District. His father was John Wordsworth, Sir James Lowther’s attorney—the fifth Baronet Lowther was the most feared and hated aristocrat in all of Cumberland and Westmoreland. However, the magnificent landscape deeply affected Wordsworth’s imagination and gave him a love of nature. He lost his mother when he was eight and five years later his father. The domestic problems separated Wordsworth from his beloved and neurotic sister Dorothy, who was a very important person in his life. 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.
With the help of his two uncles, Wordsworth entered a local school and continued his studies at Cambridge University. As a writer Wordsworth made his debut in 1787, when he published a sonnet in The European Magazine. In that same year he entered St. John’s College, Cambridge, from where he took his B.A. in 1791. During a summer vacation in 1790, Wordsworth went on a walking tour through revolutionary France. He also travelled in Switzerland.
After his journeys, Wordsworth spent several aimless and unhappy years. In 1795 he met Coleridge. Wordsworth’s financial situation became better in 1795 when he received a legacy and was able to settle at Racedown, Dorset, with his sister Dorothy.
Encouraged by Coleridge and stimulated by the close contact with nature, Wordsworth composed his first masterwork, Lyrical Ballads, which opened with Coleridge’s ‘Ancient Mariner.’ About 1798 he started to write a large and philosophical autobiographical poem, completed in 1805, and published posthumously in 1850 under the title The Prelude. The long work described the poet’s love of nature and his own place in the world order.
The winter 1798-99 Wordsworth spent with his sister and Coleridge in Germany. There he wrote several works, including the enigmatic ‘Lucy’ poems. After return he moved Dove Cottage, Grasmere. In 1802 married Mary Hutchinson.
Wordsworth’s second collection, Poems, In Two Volumes, appeared in 1807.
Wordsworth’s path-breaking works were produced between 1797 and 1808. His poems written during middle and late years have not gained similar critical approval. Wordsworth’s Grasmere period ended in 1813 when he moved to Rydal Mount, Ambleside, where he spent the rest of his life.
Wordsworth was appointed official distributor of stamps for Westmoreland. From the age of 50 his creative began to decline. Wordsworth abandoned his radical faith and became a patriotic, conservative public man. In 1843 he succeeded Robert Southgey (1774-1843) as England’s poet laureate. Wordsworth died on April 23, 1850.
