William Wordsworth : Poet, Philosopher, Pioneer

According to Wordsworth’s speaker, the English people have forgotten all the things that used to make them so glorious, and he wants John Milton to return so he can inspire greatness and creativity once more. On the other hand, in the poem “Douglass,” the speaker deplores the idea that peaceful protests no longer exist and that violent outbreaks

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow became one of the most beloved poets because of his exceptional writing skills and has largely impacted America today in many ways. The way in which he presented his style within his writings is unique and remarkable, and the reason why he is widely popular. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was one of America’s most prolific poets of his time, and helped shape American character through his manipulation of the English language.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was a successful pet in his lifetime. In his childhood, he was so intelligent that he entered Bowdoin College at the age of fifteen. He worked at Bowdoin College and Harvard College for 19 years due to his eyesight. In addition, his work sold million copies. At his later time, his birthday became a national holiday, and he was the first man who was honored by Britain society. Despite these glories, he suffered from the death of his two wives, Mary Storer Potter and Frances Appleton, and as time goes by, his works are criticized so much.

Technological advancement and social "progress" were steps backwards for Wordsworth and thus he looked to the past for his inspiration.

It changed the way of living, which changed the way of thinking. Imagination was seen as one of the key features to describe one’s perspective of the world. Henry explains that the human imagination is some kind of desire - “a motive that drives the mind to discover things that it cannot learn by rational or logical thinking” (532). Logical thinking could not explain the importance in change, so something else had to be used. Imagination drives a person’s mind into deeper thought than does reason. He explains how life on earth dies off. “All earth was but one thought-and that was death” (Byron 42). Writing about an apocalyptic world, brings out the curiosity of people; therefore, people use imagination to put themselves in this situation to be able to understand. William quotes, “I see everything I paint in this world, but everybody does not see alike” (532). Everyone has a different perspective. It is hard to be able to explain the writer’s writing without imagination and creativity. Readers don’t use reason to understand the poet’s intention. Using reason, just describes only one point of view. Henry states, “Romanticism turned away from the eighteenth-century emphasis on reason and artifice. Instead, the Romantics embraced imagination and naturalness” (529). During the period, they believed that “imagination, rather than mere reason, was the best response to the forces of change” (Henry 529). According to Henry, Wordsworth

William Wordsworth was born in 1770. His mother died when he was eight years old, and his father died five years after. Wordsworth went to school in Hawkshead, a place he and Coleridge would eventually transform into one of the “poetic centers of England” (Greenblatt 124). Wordsworth wrote conversational poems, that tackled themes such as memory, wisdom, and imagination. He argued that poems should be written without what is generally considered to be “poetic language,” and that they should be written as if they were being spoken, with conversational language.

How does William Wordsworth's poetry fit into the literary tradition of Romanticism? Q. How does William Wordsworth's poetry fit into the literary tradition of Romanticism? A. Romantic poetry was an artistic movement of the late 18th and early 19th century. It dealt with nature, human imagination, childhood and the ability to recall emotional memories of both happiness and sadness.

During the eighteenth century, a style of writing called romanticism that challenged societal norms began to emerge. It worked against the Age of Enlightenment and encouraged emotional, visual, and knowledge as the reservoir for influence. From this time six important authors surfaced: William Blake, William Wordsworth, Percy Shelley, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Byron, and John Keats. Included in this list should be Dorothy Wordsworth and Mary Wollstonecraft. The eighteenth century produce material that shattered the fundamental’s of society.

The second and final work I am critiquing is from a book entitled, ‘The Life of William Wordsworth: A Critical Biography’ written by John Worthen. I have selected a chapter which pairs nicely with article mentioned above. The chapter features both Wordsworth and Coleridge as well. However, it is not as critical as the article, it is more biographical and informational which is to be expected in a biography. The chapter focuses on the years 1806 to 1807. It begins with the mention of the death of Wordsworth’s brother, John. According to Worthen, this deeply effected Wordsworth and he had little success with the poetry he was writing during this time. Worthen then, points to ‘Elegiac Stanzas’ which confronts his late brother’s death, displays a new sense of reality, and again redeems him as a poet. Worthen states, “The poem makes the narrator 's youthful state of ecstatic, thoughtless love for the natural world — ‘of lasting ease, / Elysian quiet, without toil or strife’ — utterly unreal, in contrast with the realities of life as he now knows them. A ‘fond delusion of my heart’ he calls that old love, ‘to be pitied’ not believed in” (328). The author implies that the death of his brother drastically changed his worldview. The bleak reality of a world without his brother led to Wordsworth becoming more mature and wise after experiencing loss. The author then shifts to discussing ‘Tintern Abbey’ and his reflections during a time of youth. I believe that the author mentions the

In 1770 a historic icon was born. His name was William Wordsworth. Wordsworth lived a long and successful life which included his primary occupation as a poet. He did some things with poetry that have never been done before; such as introducing romanticism poetry. His famous poem "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" helped him become the poet laureate in 1843 which he held until his death (1850). When William Wordsworth starts to age and mature, he will then start to change his views and ways compared to when he was a hound adolescent young man.

Each consecutive literary movement comes with new attitudes about writing styles and techniques. Whether it exists as a critical element in the poetry of the Romantic and Transcendental periods, or as a seemingly infinitesimal element of the Jazz Age, nature is a key component that appears throughout poetry. Although “I wandered lonely as a cloud”, “Song of Myself”, and “Nothing Gold Can Stay” are each from different literary periods, they are all tied together by a common thread: nature.

William Wordsworth existed in a time when society and its functions were beginning to rapidly pick up. The poem that he 'Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey, on Revisiting the Banks of the Wye', gave him a chance to reflect upon his quick paced life by taking a moment to slow down and absorb the beauty of nature that allows one to 'see into the life of things'; (line 49). Wordsworth's 'Tintern Abbey'; takes you on a series of emotional states by trying to sway 'readers and himself, that the loss of innocence and intensity over time is compensated by an accumulation of knowledge and insight.'; Wordsworth accomplishes to prove that although time was lost along with his innocence, he

Romanticism is a style of art or literature during the late 18th and early 19th centuries that emphasizes a love for nature, distrust of society, organized religion, celebration of the child or individual, and emotion over reason. In William Wordsworth’s “The World Is Too Much with Us” Wordsworth speaks about how society is so materialistic while speaking on the significance of nature. Ironically the title of this sonnet exemplifies one of the Romantic ideas and expresses one of Wordsworth’s main points regarding nature. Wordsworth uses a connection to nature as well as religion to emphasize Romanticism in his work.

William Wordsworth has represented his inner voice and life through his poems that were in relation to the rapture and landscape.

“Fill your paper with breathings of your heart.” William Wordsworth was a poet who not only inspired himself, but also inspired a number others. As some may know he was a son, brother, and a father. But most importantly, he was a famous poet. He never once let his rough and tragic lifetime get in the way of his creative writing.