Wordsworth, William - vita e opere

He was born in the Lake District, an area where he was inspired by its natural beauty. In France he believe in French Revolution, and was in love with Annette Vallon, but lack of money forced him to leave France, so he was disappointed because he had to leave also his political beliefs and Annette. His friendship with Coleridge was important to romantic poetry, because they both wrote Lyrical Ballads, which contained the PREFACE, Wordsworth’s romantic manifesto, contains his idea of poetry as spontaneity of feelings. Wordsworth wrote poems on children’s feelings, because the child was closer with nature, differently from the adult, that has lost his harmony with nature. So he believes in the pre-existence of the soul and that the soul after birth loses its harmony, knowledge.
In lyrical ballads Wordsworth contributed on common events written in a common language, while Coleridge on exotic and fantastic nature.
In the Wordsworth’s PREFACE, THE ROMANTIC MANIFESTO, there are his poetical ideas:
• He wanted to create a poetry accessible to all men, so he write with a common language and of ordinary themes.
• He is a poet who speak to another man, he has a more imagination, so he wants to tell to another man every thing he knows.
• Poetry is an explosion of poet’s feelings.
Nature can mean many things to Wordsworth:
• Nature as the countryside, where mountains, lakes and other things are opposed to the city’s noise. The scene is populated by nature, not by men.
• Nature as a source of inspiration
• Nature as a life-force and man seems to communicate with the nature .

I WONDERED LONELY AS A CLOUD
This poem is often called daffodils ( a yellow flower with a long stem, common in spring). Wordsworth was working in the Lake District with her sister Doroty, but in this poem he says “I wandered lonely as a cloud”, LONELY, but lonely because he is in meditation, he tries to be in contact with nature so he feels alone. He looks all these daffodils moved by the wind, he compares them initially to a crowd, then to the stars that shine and move their heads in a dance. Then he compares them also to the waves but he feels that the comparison with the stars is better. At last, he says “pensive mood”, so he says again he’s in meditation, on his couch, on his sofa. And the daffodils flash upon his inward eye (for the romantic there’s an internal eye, the imagination), so he feels pleasure.

The last stanza is the most important because emotion recollected in tranquility, his creative act happens in a process of: contemplation, loneliness at home, pensive mood, and poetic creation.
The language is very common.
His condition of loneliness is positive because he wants to be in contact with nature, he wants to reach infinite.