William Wordsworth

William Wordsworth was an English poet born in 1770, and was known as one of the founders of Romanticism. Wordsworth considered nature his religion, and is sometimes referred to as "Nature's High Priest." By using more understandable, "everyday" language, he made his poetry relatable to the common man. His desire to teach, appreciating the beauty in things, joy, and finding oneself were the major themes found all throughout his writing.

Wordsworth grew up in the Lake District, a scenic region in northwestern England. His mother died when he was only 7 and his father when he was 13, so he regularly looked to nature for comfort. In his piece “Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey,” he wrote, “Nature never did betray the heart that loved her” (Wordsworth, Lines). Through his writing, he portrayed “the spontaneous overflow of feelings…recollected in tranquility” (Wordsworth, Preface). This was often integrated into poems about nature and/or human emotion.

Wordsworth was a pioneer for the themes of nature and emotion in writing. Aside from writing about the natural world, he also discussed it's relation to man. He explored human nature and the process of finding oneself, surrounding many of his works around human experience.

Works Cited

Wordsworth, William. “Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey, On Revisiting the Banks of the Wye during a Tour. July 13, 1798 by William Wordsworth.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation, www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45527/lines-composed-a-few-miles-above-tintern-abbey-on-revisiting-the-banks-of-the-wye-during-a-tour-july-13-1798.

Wordsworth, William. “Preface to Lyrical Ballads.” Preface to Lyrical Ballads. William Wordsworth (1800). 1909-14. Famous Prefaces. The Harvard Classics, www.bartleby.com/39/36.html.