William Wordsworth was a prominent English poet and a founder of the Romantic movement, known for his emphasis on nature and emotion in poetry. Born on April 7, 1770, in Cockermouth, he became famous for works like 'The Solitary Reaper' and was appointed Poet Laureate of England in 1843. His poetry reflects the intimate connection between humans and the natural world, defined by his principle that it should express powerful emotions and provide lasting pleasure to readers.

1. WHO WAS WILLIAM
WORDSWORTH ?
Presented by:-Agnee

2. Where It All Began
WHO WAS HE ???
William Wordsworth is one of the most important English
poets and a founder of the Romantic Movement of English
literature, a style of writing that focuses on emotion and
imagination . Wordsworth became known as a 'Lakeland
Poet' because of the area where he lived, which is
renowned for its beautiful, wild landscapes, charming
pastures, and countless lakes. He was often called a 'nature
poet' because of his emphasis on the connection between
humans and the natural world. He became widely successful
and was named poet laureate of England in 1843.

3. HIS LIFE
William Wordsworth was the second of five children born
to John Wordsworth and Ann Cookson, William
Wordsworth was born on 7 April 1770 in Wordsworth
House in Cockermouth, Cumberland, part of the scenic
region in northwestern England known as the Lake District.
His sister, the poet and diarist Dorothy Wordsworth, to
whom he was close all his life, was born the following year,
and the two were baptised together. They had three other
siblings: Richard, the eldest, who became a lawyer; John,
born after Dorothy, who went to sea and died in 1805 when
the ship of which he was Master, the Earl of Abergavenny,
was wrecked off the south coast of England; and
Christopher, the youngest, who entered the Church and
rose to be Master of Trinity College, Cambridge.

4. Wordsworth's father was a legal representative of James
Lowther,1st Earl of Lonsdale and, through his connections,
lived in a large mansion in the small town. He was frequently
away from home on business, so the young William and his
siblings had little involvement with him and remained distant
from him until his death in 1783. However, he did encourage
William in his reading, and in particular set him to commit to
memory large portions of verse, including works by Milton,
Shakespeare and Spenser. William was also allowed to use his
father's library. William also spent time at his mother's
parents' house in Penrith, Cumberland, where he was
exposed to the moors, but did not get along with his
grandparents or his uncle, who also lived there. His hostile
interactions with them distressed him to the point of
contemplating suicide.

5. WORDSWORTH IN NATURE
The beautiful landscape of the Lake District
inspired the young Wordsworth; nature is a
common theme that can be found in many of
his poems.

6. HisE AERaLYr lWyO WRKSorks
In 1793, Wordsworth’s first works, An Evening Walk
and Descriptive Sketches, were published but
received little notice.
“Where, bosom'd deep, the shy Winander peeps
Mid' clust'ring isles, and holly-sprinkl'd steeps;
Where twilight glens endear my Esthwaite's shore,
And memory of departed pleasures, more.”
From An Evening Walk

7. Mr. and Mrs. Wordsworth
In 1802,
Wordsworth
married Mary
Hutchinson in the
Brompton Church.
She was the
inspiration for his
poem, “She Was A
Phantom of Delight.”

8. 'The Solitary Reaper' was written on November
5, 1805 and published in 1807 in the
collection Poems, in Two Volumes. This poem
is unique because, while most of
Wordsworth's work is based closely on his
own experiences, 'The Solitary Reaper' is
based on the experience of someone else:
author and friend Thomas Wilkinson, as
described in his Tours to the British
Mountains.

9. The poem, like most of Wordsworth's poetry, is
distinguished by its straightforward use of
language and meter as well as its natural theme
and imagery. It reflects Wordsworth's belief in the
importance of the natural world, the power of
memory and the human mind, and his first
principle of poetry: that poetry should be written
to provide pleasure through a rhythmic and
powerful expression of emotion and leave readers
with 'a spontaneous overflow of powerful
feelings' long after it is read.

11. “The best portion of a good man's life: his little,
nameless unremembered acts of kindness and
love.”
-WILLIAM
WORDSWORTH

12. It was Wordsworth's emotional power, rather than
his range of intellect, that made him famous and
influential. He defined poetry as "the spontaneous
overflow of powerful feelings arising from "emotion
recollected in tranquility." To him, poetry was an
overflowing of emotion onto paper backed up by
the refusal to conform to the “rules” of society. This
belief, along with his inspirations, allowed his
talent and emotions to run free.