Concetti Chiave
- William Wordsworth spent a happy childhood in a small English village, deeply connected with nature, despite losing both parents early in life.
- Attended Cambridge and later moved to France, where he embraced democratic ideas and had a daughter with Annett Vallon, though they never married.
- Upon returning to England in 1793, the outbreak of war with France prevented him from reuniting with Annett.
- Wordsworth formed a significant friendship with writer Samuel Coleridge in 1795, sharing a passion for nature, and later married Mary Hutchinson in 1802.
- His literary masterpiece, "The Lyrical Ballads," co-authored with Coleridge, served as the cornerstone of the Romantic Movement, blending realism with poetic expression.
Childhood and Youth of Wordsworth
William Wordsworth was born in a small village of England where he spent a happy childhood in contact with nature.
He lost his mother when he was 8 years old and his father when he was 13. He had three brothers and a sister, Dorothy.
When he grew up he attended Cambridge. Then he went to France, attracted by the new democratic ideas.
There he had a love affair with Annett Vallon. They had a daughter, Caroline. Probably he also had in mind to marry Annett, but this never happened because Wordsworth’s family, that was against this decision, prevented him to.
When he returned to England, in 1793, the war between France and England broke out, so he could not reach out Annett, who had stayed in France.
Meeting with Coleridge and Marriage
In 1795 he met Samuel Coleridge, another famous English writer, and they became friends. In fact they shared the same love for nature.
In 1802 he married Mary Hutchinson. This was a good period for him: calm and free from financial problems. It’s in these years that he turned to political and religious conservatism.
Wordsworth started writing poems when he was still a little boy and continued to do it for all his life.
His literary production can be divided into two groups:
1) longer poems;
2) miscellaneous poems.
But his masterpiece is surely “The Lyrical Ballads”, written together with Coleridge. It preface can considered the Manifesto of the Romantic Movement in England.
Wordsworth’s aim was to reconcile realism with poetry. To do such a thing he needed to draw inspiration from everyday life and to write in a language and with a style very close the actual spoken English.
Also other poets has tried to do something similar in the past, but Wordsworth was the one to completely solve the problem and in the second preface of the Lyrical Ballads, in fact, he exposed all these literary theories of his.
Domande da interrogazione
- What significant events in Wordsworth's early life influenced his connection with nature?
- How did Wordsworth's relationship with Annett Vallon impact his life and work?
- What was Wordsworth's contribution to the Romantic Movement in England?
Wordsworth spent a happy childhood in a small English village, fostering his connection with nature. The loss of his mother at age 8 and his father at 13 likely deepened his appreciation for the natural world as a source of solace.
Wordsworth's love affair with Annett Vallon in France resulted in a daughter, Caroline. Although he considered marrying Annett, his family opposed it, and the outbreak of war between France and England in 1793 prevented further contact, influencing his personal life and possibly his poetic themes.
Wordsworth, alongside Samuel Coleridge, wrote "The Lyrical Ballads," which is considered the Manifesto of the Romantic Movement in England. His aim was to reconcile realism with poetry by drawing inspiration from everyday life and using a language close to spoken English, as detailed in the second preface of the work.
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