Wordsworth

William Wordsworth (7 April 1770 – 23 April 1850) was an English Romantic poet who helped launch the Romantic movement in English literature. Born in Cockermouth, Cumberland, he studied at St John’s College, Cambridge, and traveled in Britain and Europe in his youth. A defining collaboration with Samuel Taylor Coleridge produced Lyrical Ballads (1798), a collection that argued for poetry grounded in ordinary language and common experience.

Wordsworth’s poetry emphasizes the healing power of nature, the memory of childhood, and the mind’s active role in shaping perception. He developed ideas about how moments of heightened perception, or “spots of time,” can influence later understanding. His mature verse often treats nature as a teacher and moral guide, and it helped redefine the language and aims of English poetry. Notable works include Tintern Abbey (Lines Composed a Few Miles above) and longer sequences such as The Prelude (published posthumously in part during his lifetime), as well as lyric pieces like I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud (1807) and Ode: Intimations of Immortality (1807).

Personal life and place in literary history are tied to his residence in the Lake District. He married Mary Hutchinson in 1802, and the couple lived at Dove Cottage before moving to other homes in the region. He was closely associated with his sister Dorothy Wordsworth, whose journals helped shape his work. In 1843 Wordsworth was named Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, a post he held until his death.

Wordsworth’s influence extends beyond his era, shaping subsequent generations of poets through his emphasis on nature, memory, and accessible language. He is buried at St. Oswald’s Church in Grasmere.