William Wordsworth


1770 - 1850

Romantic Poet. Born in Cockermouth in the NW of England, Wordsworth travelled widely, including a well-documented six-week tour of Scotland in 1803 with his sister, Dorothy. His works were often inspired by the natural world, and include The Rainbow (1802), Daffodils (1804) and the long narrative poem White Doe of Rylstone (1807). The Prelude was a long philosophical work published by his wife, Mary, after his death. The couple had married in 1802, living initially at Dove Cottage in Grasmere in the English Lake District, where they entertained many guests including Sir Walter Scott (1771 - 1832).

He was sufficiently well-respected that the government granted him a pension of £300 per annum from 1842 and he was appointed Poet Laureate the following year. He died at his home, Rydal Mount at Ambleside, and was buried at St. Oswald's Church in Grasmere. Wordsworth's life had been touched with much sadness - both his parents had died before he was thirteen, his brother drowned, his sister suffered mental illness and incapacity, and three of his children died - however his reputation was secure as one of Britain's greatest poets.


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