On this date in
English literary history – April 7, 1770, poet William Wordsworth was born at Wordsworth House in
Cockermouth, England. Wordsworth lost his mother when he was eight and his
father five years later. He attended Cambridge, and then traveled in Europe,
taking long walking tours with friends through the mountains. While studying in
France in 1791, Wordsworth fell in love and had a daughter. Intending to marry
the mother, he returned to England to straighten out problematic financial
matters, but a series of events prevented their reunion. During his 20s,
Wordsworth lived with his sister Dorothy and developed a close working
partnership with Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Together they published Lyrical Ballads, with a Few Other Poems
in 1798, launching the Romantic Movement. The book, which included Coleridge's “Rime
of the Ancient Mariner” and Wordsworth's “Tintern Abbey,” sold out within two
years. The book's second edition included a preface by the authors, which
became an important manifesto of Romantic poetry. In 1802, after years of living
on a modest income, Wordsworth came into a long-delayed inheritance from his
father and was able to live comfortably with his sister. He married their
longtime neighbor Mary Hutchinson and had five children. The poet's stature
grew steadily, though most of his major work was written by 1807. In 1843, he
was named poet laureate of England, and he died in 1850, at the age of 80.
His book can be
purchased through the following links:
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