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William Wordsworth : Poet, Philosopher, Pioneer

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Taylor Standen
Mrs. Marshall
AP Literature Period 5
5 November 2015
Wordsworth: Poet, Philosopher, Pioneer There are two types of poets in this world: those who attain success after death and those who are admired while they are alive. William Wordsworth was and continues to be both. Considering that Wordsworth was alive over two centuries ago, Wordsworth’s paradigm is reflected within his unique style of writing, one that impacted the world of poetry forever. Over the course of William Wordsworth’s lifetime, many things contributed to shaping his worldview. At the young age of eight, Wordsworth’s mother died, and his father sent him to Hawkshead Grammar school, where his passion for poetry would be ignited. (CITATION) After Hawkshead, Wordsworth studied at St. John’s College in Cambridge, and shortly before his last semester, took a walking tour of Europe. This experience greatly influenced and inspired Wordsworth’s poetry. During his expedition, Wordsworth was also exposed to the French Revolution, a movement that planted a seed of rebellion within him and brought about a fascination and sympathy for the life of the “common man.” William Wordsworth lived in a time of Romanticism. An era of revolt against order, rules, and logic. The mindset of the Romantic era was one of imagination over reason, emotion over logic, and intuition over science. (CITATION) During the Romantic era, the static character archetypes of the 18th century were replaced with unique, peculiar

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