Joseph Morris

Sister Willburn
English 332-02
20 Jun 2016

William Wordsworth

Morris | 3

Introduction
Imagine if you will, A nature-loving romantic in the classical sense. Now Imagine a
British man whose heart is filled with the French revolution. Next imagine a penniless war-torn
lover deprived of everything he holds dear. Now image a man so skilled and influential with his
words that he achieves the position of British Poet Laureate. Finally, imagine that they are all the
same person, a man by the name of William Wordsworth.

William Wordsworth led a somewhat fascinating life, but it paled in comparison to his
mentality and words. This was a person who saw the world and the eternities in ways most people
of his era couldnt fathom until he put them into words for them. He didnt just use any words
though, he wove poetic tapestries to tell his stories, and our stories, and those stories had the
power to move the heart, the mind, and the soul.
This was a man born amidst the beauties of the wild and nature infused him with its
essence. It spoke to him and through him. It was his inspiration and his muse. And it was these
visions of life and Gods creations that he shares. His quill etched them into existence and through
the efforts of countless many, those visions have been preserved and distributed to those who seek
them.
In a sense, I guess that is why I want to share him. I want to help people experience the
powerful feelings his works invoke. I want to share his insights into life and nature by introducing
the man himself to you. I want you to share in his understandings of the nature of the soul.

Morris | 4

Chronology
Wordsworth

Major Events

1770 Born in Cumberland, England to John Wordsworth & Ann

Cookson
1771 Inventor Richard Arkwright opens first cotton mill at
Cromford, Derbyshire
1773 Boston Tea Party
1775 James Watt produces steam engines
1775 American Revolutionary War Begins
1778 Mother dies, Wordsworth is sent to Hawkshead Grammar
School where he stays at Ann Tysons cottage with his 3
brothers. He reads voraciously from William Taylors (the
headmasters) library.

1776 United States declares Independence

1780 Gordon Riots in London

1783 Father dies

1783 William Pit becomes Prime Minister & Revolutionary War

ends
1785 Romantic Period begins

1787 Enters St. Johns College, Cambridge. He publishes a

sonnet in The European Magazine.

1790 Journeys on foot with Robert Jones through France,

Switzerland, Italy and the Alps during summer break. It
was the one-year anniversary of Bastilles fall
1791 Graduates Cambridge with a BA, Moves to London for 4
months. Tours Wales and ascends Mount Snowden with
Robert, returns to France alone to master the language and
qualify as a traveling tutor. He falls for Annette Vallon,
daughter of a French Surgeon at Blois
1792 They have a daughter, Caroline, but Wordsworth is forced
to return to England due to lack of money. His emotional
breakdown begins due to his abandoning them, his spilt
loyalties to France/England, and his slow disillusionment
with the revolution.

1787 W.A. Mozart, Don Giovanni. Society for the Abolition of

the Slave Trade founded. First convicts shipped to
Australia
1789 French Revolution begins with the fall of Bastille
1790 At age 15, J.M.W Turner first exhibits his artwork at the
Royal Academy
1791 Revolutions at Santo Domingo (Haiti)

1792 September massacre in Paris. First gas lights in Britain

1793 A friend dies, leaving Wordsworth enough money to live by

poetry, but the war prevents his return to France. He
publishes Descriptive Sketches and An Evening Walk

1793 Execution of Louis XVI & Marie Antoinette. France

declares war on Britain. The Reign of Ter r or begins.
1794 Fall of Robespierre. Trials for high treason of members of
the London Corresponding Society

1795 Settles in a rent-free house in Dorset with sister Dorothy.

He meets Samuel Coleridge, his new BFF.

1795 Pitts Gagging Acts suppress freedom of speech and

assembly in Britain

1797 Moves to Alfoxen House, Somersetshire to be near

Coleridge
1798 Lyrical Ballads (joint anonymous publication with Samuel
Coleridge)

1798 Rebellion in Ireland

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Chronology Continued
Wordsworth

Major Events

1799 Having lost their lease due to the local conspiracy theorists,
the Wordsworths moved to their Dove Cottage in
Grasmere of the Lake District
1800 Lyrical Ballads is republished with additional content
1802 Lord Lonsdale dies, and the 4000 debt he owed John
Wordsworth is paid by his heir, William Lowther, allowing
William to receive his inheritance. After an amicable
settlement with Annette, Wordsworth marries Mary
Hutchinson, a childhood friend.

1801 United Kingdom formed by Act of Union with Ireland

1802 Treaty of Amiens. Edinburgh Review founded. John
Constable first exhibits at the Royal Academy
1804 Napoleon crowned Emperor. Founding of the Republic of
Haiti

1805 His brother, Sea Captain John drowns

1805 French fleet defeated by British at Trafalgar

1807 Poems, in Two Volumes (includes I Wandered Lonely as

a Cloud a.k.a. Daffodils)

1807 Britain abolishes slave trade

1810 A Quarrel with Coleridge climaxes a growing contention

between the two. Publishes Guide to the Lakes
1812 Two of his children die
1813 Receives the position of Stamp Distributer (revenue
collector) for Westmorland, evidence of his position as a
national poet and the governments perception of his
politics
1814 Publishes The Excursion

1808 Ludwig van Beethoven, Symphonies 5 & 6

1809 Quarterly Review founded
1811 Prince of Wales becomes regent for George III, who is
declared incurably insane
1812 War of 1812 begins between Br itain and the USA

1815 First collected edition of his poems is published. Publishes

Laodamia and The White Doe of Rylstone

1815 Napolon defeated at Water loo. War of 1812 ends in

stalemate. Britains Corn Laws passed, protecting
economic interests of the landed aristocracy

1816 Caroline gets married. Mary convinces Wordsworth to send

Caroline 30 a year. This continued until 1835, were it was
replaced by a lump sum.

1817 Blackwoods Edinburgh Magazine founded. Death of

Princess Charlotte & Jane Austen

1819 Publishes Peter Bell

1819 Peterloo Massacre in Manchester

1820 George IV replaces the deceased George III. London
Magazine founded
1822 Franz Shubert, Unfinished Symphony.
1825 Worlds first Steam Locomotive Passenger Service
begins in Britain
1828 Parliamentary repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts
excluding Dissenters from state offices
1829 Catholic Emancipation

1830s Dorothys health begins to decline

1830 Death of George IV, William IV ascends. Revolution in

France
1832 Britains First Reform Bill is passed

1843 Becomes Poet Laureate

1850 Dies of pleurisy in Cumberland, England. The Prelude a.k.a.
Growth of a Poets Mind is published Posthumously

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Related Websites
The Poetry Foundation
Provides a Biography of William Wordsworth, access to
many of his works, articles written about him, and some
audio/video renditions of his works.
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poets/
detail/william-wordsworth

The Wordsworth Trust

The Official Site of the Wordsworth Trust, a group that
maintains Wordsworths Dove Cottage in the Lake
District, the adjacent Wordsworth Museum, and 90% of
his manuscripts.
https://wordsworth.org.uk/home.html

The British Broadcasting Corporation

Includes some notes on Wordsworth, including some
audio renditions of his works.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/romantics/wordsworth.shtml

The Encyclopedia of World Biography

Provides a short recap of Wordsworths life, divided into
stages.
http://www.notablebiographies.com/We-Z/WordsworthWilliam.html

Morris | 7

Biographical Impressions
And in despair I bowed my head: There is no peace on earth, I said
Henry W. Longfellow (I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day)

Probably the greatest influence on any writers writing is not the times of peace and
comfort, but those of difficulty and tribulation. The times that make us question who we are, what
is moral, what is just, what is really important, the times that make us question why? The same
could be said about Wordsworths writings. They didnt reach their full depth of maturity until he
had experienced despair himself.
It all started with a long hiking trip across Europe that included Italy, Switzerland, much of
the Alps, and France. While enjoying the sights and sounds nature had to offer, he came across the
celebrations of the French. Bastille had fallen one year earlier and they were reminiscing in the
most joyous fashion. Having been enthralled by the French, Wordsworth returns to London to
quickly finish out his schooling, before returning once again to France with the intent to stay a
while. There he fell in love with the French Revolution as well as a French woman by the name of
Annette Vallon, who happened to be the beautiful daughter of a French surgeon. She bore
Wordsworth a daughter, Caroline.
Wordsworth was reaching the pinnacle of happiness. His life had come together and
graced him with a family. It was a Joyous time. All that was left was to marry Annette and make
things official, but unfortunately he was running low on the funds that would be needed to support

his new family. Thus began his ill-fated choice to return to London to procure more money. After
he left, Frances First Terror began: The September 1792 massacre of political prisoners. This
was followed by the execution of Louis XVI & Marie Antoinette, and Frances declaring war on
Britain.
Cut-off. The very revolution that he had embraced so heartily as the light of new
beginnings had raised its cruel and ugly head, revealing itself not as enlightenment, but as
bloodthirsty barbarity which incidentally severed his newly formed family along with his heart.
He could no longer return to France to see his fianc or daughter. The guilt of abandonment began

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Biographical Impressions Cont.

to settle in his gut and internal conflict wracked his soul, his heart being impeded by the external
conflicts between them.
Having settled into despair, Wordsworth began to ask the age-old questions and let those
internal conversations color his works. The most obvious of his works that were touched by his
ponderings where books 10 and 11 of The Prelude, which recanted and reflected upon his time in
France and the events thereafter. Not so obviously, without his Annette and their Caroline, city
life became a bore to Wordsworth, and his mind retreated to the comforting solitude of nature.
Where his mind went, so did his poetry. Nature was not false. Nature could not break your heart
or abandon you. Neither would not betray you. Nature was beauty, pure, and heavenly. Nature
could calm your troubled heart. Nature would be true to itself.
Wordsworths poems began to display his disillusionment with people and society (read
London, 1802 for an example) and display his emphatic infatuation with the outdoors, with the
wilds, with nature. In his poems nature gives him joy. His poem It is a beauteous evening is a
great example of his feelings on nature and its divinity.
Is it possible that he would have written this way if those events had not occurred?
Maybe, or it could be that those events influenced who he was to such a degree that without them
he would have been quite a different person altogether with such different political and
philosophical views that he would have ended up with extremely different writings. His despair
curbed his navet, maturing him into a more humble individual, enlightened by what he

perceived in nature. His writings are a reflection of that.

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Critical Impressions
Nostalgia's Freight in Wordsworth's Intimations Ode
According to Fred Hoerner, readers of William Wordsworths Intimations Ode are likely
to confuse his poetics with his nostalgic material. He goes on to explain in the most confusing
manner possible how not acknowledging the theories available for analyzing the poem will leave
the reader blaming the poem on nostalgia, when in Freds opinion, the poem is more an ode to
being able to remember than it is to a specific memory or memories.
Fred goes on to relate how the poems ambiguity and reluctance to be concrete are
emphasized by his somewhat embracing of Christian religious symbolism without actually doing
so. Wordsworth is thus a free-agent in Freds mind, refusing to be bound by structure, whether it
be nostalgia, religion, or really anything specific. Fred uses the poems frequent use of
contradictions and opposites as an example of Wordsworths inability to commit to a single idea.
He feels that Wordsworth further distances himself from the confinement of structure by giving
his memories a transcendent nature that is unable to be fully grasped by the reader.
Fred further states that it is tempting to confuse sign and symbol in the poem, but
Wordsworth resists this and further demonstrates his agency by writing about the future, or
unknown quantities of which his memories cannot be. Fred finishes his essay with the caveat that
we cannot fully understand the poem unless we first allow the poem to go through us and be
internalized. We have to let it go deep within us in order for us to go deep within it.

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Critical Impressions Cont.

From Tintern Abbey to the Intimations Ode: Wordsworth and the Function of Memory
In Stuart Sperrys essay, he attempts to compare and contrast how memory is used
between the poems Tintern Abbey and Intimations Ode. Stuart asserts that although it is
common thought that Wordsworths use of memory in his poetry is a reassurance to himself that
all is not lost, that although he might not be gilded with glory now, he once was as a child, it is
entirely possible his later works such as the Intimation Ode are more than that and break away
from that consolation towards something else entirely.
Tintern Abbey, Stuart suggests, deals heavily with recollection and the inevitable
decay of memories. They become less clear with time and would possibly fade altogether if not
revitalized with revisitation. He ponders how they can be reconstructed personally through
revisiting a location and internalizing the familiarity and changes to it or vicariously through

another individual, the example of which he uses is Dorothy, Wordsworths sister and a subject of
the poem through which he seems to relive his childhood. Either way, Stuart states that it will
fuse past and present into a larger continuity, a kind of reimagining of ones self and memories
through new experiences.
By the time Wordsworth wrote his Intimation Ode things had changed. Stuart
suggests that the poem demonstrates completely faded memories. No longer can Wordsworth look
at things and see a similitude to his youth. His childhood is long forgotten, and gazing at things
that should rekindle glorious memories but instead leave nothing but the darkness of the forgotten
in their wake. By this point he can no longer console himself with the past and use it to build new
memories, so instead he attempts to cling to their trailing wisps in a desperate attempt to escape
the darkness of the future.

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Critical Impressions Cont.

Natural Piety
Roger Pierce proposes in his semi-environmentalist essay that Wordsworths Imitations
Ode is an exercise in exploring the possibilities and limitations of consciousness using the
natural world. He asserts that although our aging can limit those possibilities, as long as we
maintain our bond with nature we can continue to have new possibilities. He claims that

Wordsworths poetry is less about religion and more about the consciousness of a person passing
from childhood to elderliness. He further claims that there is an assault on nature and that we must
become once again as children in order to reconnect with nature in a meaningful way in order to
save it from humanitys destructive tendencies.
He goes on to say that children have natural piety or as he calls it, an uncomplicated
level of consciousness in response to the objects in its immediate environment. Roger mentions
that Wordsworth laments the fading of this connection to nature that occurs with age. Roger states
that the poem is divided into three distinct sections, the first being Earthly Freight, of the time
when the childs inner light begins to darken, his connection to nature slowly becoming blurred,
his mind slowly becoming cynical. This is followed by a section Roger calls Strength. In this
stage that inner light is further buried under the loads of responsibility and life. The mind becomes
more mature, giving us strength to learn and understand, and thus the ability to recapture that
fleeting connection to nature we had as a child. This is succeeded by the final stage, A Song of

Thanks and Praise. In this stage we can never return to our childhood selves, but need to use
more mature methods to protect our love of nature and nature itself.

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Critical Impressions Cont.

But I am too particular for the limits of my paper:
Religion in Wordsworths Poetry, Prose and Talk
In her essay on Wordsworth and religion, Eliza Borkowska brings to light that religion is
the second most important source of inspiration behind the poetry of William Wordsworth. She
mentions that of his slightly more than 800 poems, about 500 have religious imagery in them,

with Wordsworths Intimation Ode being one of them. She shares this example from the poem:
. . . Not in entire forgetfulness,
And not in utter nakedness,
But trailing clouds of glory do we come
From God, who is our home . . . (ll. 6265)
Eliza finds this curious because Aubrey de Vere, an acquaintance of Wordsworth, noted
how his prose was quite the opposite, being very anti-Roman Catholic and political. Avoiding
religion if at all possible. Even when talking about his obviously religious inspired poetry,
Woodworth couldnt really bring himself to mention religion. Eliza compares this to the poet
Blake, who almost couldnt not talk about his poetry without mentioning religion. Even Coleridge
pondered religion in prose.
Perhaps, Eliza goes on to suggest, Wordsworth didnt have a set view on religion. Perhaps
although inspired by it and submerged in religious imagery, it is all shallow to Wordsworth, pretty
words for pretty poetry. She mentions Wordsworths comments about his Intimations Ode that
because the idea had offended some persons, he had never intended to assert that there was life
before birth and that he doesnt personally believe in such things. Other than that, he didnt have
much to say on religion outside of his poetry. Eliza concludes that this is because he was reluctant
to actually delve into religion, to hash it out, to have an opinion on it, to try and understand it. He
didnt want the responsibility of having to choose a side in religious discussion.

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Principle Critics
Although there have been many to read William Wordsworths works, some have been
more thoroughly obsessed with his accomplishments than others. These are individuals who have
studied him and his works, analyzing and criticizing the minute details of his poems and his life.
They are those who are not just content to study, but also to share what they learn, and have
contributed their thoughts on William Wordsworths works to the world.
One such expert, or principle critic, is William
Wordsworths great-great-great nephew Jonathan Wordsworth.
Born in 1932, he is a direct descendant of Williams younger
brother Christopher. Before he died in 2006, Jonathan was
Professor of English Literature at St. Catherines College,
Oxford. Most of his academic writings revolved around William
and from 1976-2002 he was Chairman of the Wordsworth Trust.

At Exeter College, Oxford, where he had been a Fellow, there resides a postgraduate scholarship
in his name. Before leaving this earthly realm for more celestial spheres, Jonathan wrote two
books that help us understand William Wordsworths writings more deeply: The Music of
Humanity (1969), and The Borders of Vision (1982). These books look at both the tragic pathos
invoked by his poetry and the border states contemplated by them.
Another expert on the perished poet is Kenneth Richard
Johnston, Ruth N. Halls Professor of English Emeritus at
Indiana University. Having gained his PhD from Yale in 1966,
he has spent most of his career studying Wordsworth. A few of
his honors and awards include: Distinguished Scholar, KeatsShelley Association of America; Fellow, Institute for Advanced
Studies in Humanities, University of Edinburgh; Distinguished
Teaching Award, Amoco Foundation, Indiana University; Mellon Foundation Emeritus Fellow;

and Distinguished Fulbright Fellow. Probably his most notable contribution outside of his essays

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Principle Critics Cont.

on Wordsworth is his book The Hidden W ordsworth: Poet, Lover, Rebel, Spy (1998) which
explores Wordsworth and his writings from other angles using outside sources from the respective
time period.
A third principle critic of the romantic writer would be
Dr. Sally Bushell, the current head of Lancaster Universitys

English & Creative Writing department (located on the doorstep

of the Lake District) and Co-Director of The Wordsworth
Centre for the Study of Poetry. She received her PhD from
Queens College, Cambridge. The Wordsworth Trust considers
her a leading scholar on William, and has collaborated with her
and Lancaster University to create a free 4-week online course entitled William Wordsworth:
Poetry, People and Place. She has also embarked on a project to help The Wordsworth Trust put
Williams manuscripts online, which can be found at http://www.digitalwordsworth.org/.

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Creative Response
Studying Wordsworth and his poetry has reinvigored my creative
noodle and led me to concoct a nature poem of my own in the style of
Wordsworths I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud.

Mulberries
J.R. Morris 27, June, 2016

eneath the golden shining sun

I trod the path down to the crik,
To watch the crystal waters run;
And there I reached upwards to pick
A precious morsel unto me,
The fruit of the mulberry tree.
Dark as midnight they overhung,
Each one a treasure nice and plump;
I plopped a large one on my tongue
And underneath the tree I slumped.
I closed my eyes and bowed my head
And listened to the riverbed.
Euphonic notes the waters skimmed,
A soothing tune that would be heard,
Accompanied by rustling winds,
And the duets of water birds.
I mulled in my serene retreat
And with a bite began to eat.
Across my buds the nectar flowed,
A flavor so robust and keen,
Before dropping back down below
Into the darkened depths unseen.
Although its gone, Ill not forget,
Those memories stay with me yet.

http://www.deviantart.com/art/Green-Stream-542752937

Morris | 16

Annotated Works Cited

Borkowska, Eliza. "'But I Am Too Particular For The Limits Of My Paper': Religion In Wordsworth's Poetry,
Prose And Talk." Romanticism 21.1 (2015): 14-24. Academic Search Premier. Web. 13 July 2016.
An analytical essay examining Wordsworths use of religion in poetry, but not prose.
Haydon, Benjamin. W ordsworth on Helvellyn. 1841. Oil on canvas. W ikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Web.
20 Jun. 2016.
A painting of Wordsworth with his arms folded.
Hoerner, Fred. "Nostalgia's Freight in Wordsworth's "Intimations Ode"" ELH 62.3 (1995): 631-61. Web. 11 Jul.
2016.
An analytical essay on Wordsworths Ode, contemplating his flirtation with ambiguity and agency.
Kettler, Sara. William Wordsworth Biography. Biography.com. A&E Television Networks. nd. Web. 11 Jul.
2016.
A short yet informative biography of Wordsworth.
Pierce, Roger. "Natural Piety." Journal Of Medical Humanities 23.1 (2002): 87-92. Academic Search Premier.
Web. 13 July 2016.
An analytical essay using Wordsworths Intimation Ode to plead for us to care more about nature.
Sperry, Stuart M. "From "Tintern Abbey" to the "Intimations Ode": Wordsworth and the Function of Memory."
The Wordsworth Circle 1 (1970): 40-49. Web. 11 Jul. 2016.
An analytical essay comparing the use of memory between Wordsworths Tintern Abbey and his Ode.

Swales, Richard. Rydal Mount. Photograph. W ikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 15 Apr. 2004. Web. 20 Jun.
2016.
A photo of where Wordsworth lived from 1813-1850.
"Timeline." The Norton A nthology of English Literature. 9th ed. Vol. D. Gen. ed. Stephen Greenblatt. Norton,
2011. Print.
A list of major events that happened during Wordsworths lifetime.
Unknown. English poet W illiam W ordsworth. 1798. Sketch. W ikimedia Commons. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.
Web. 20 Jun. 2016.
A sketch of Wordsworth done sometime around 1798 by someone anonymous.
William Wordsworth 1770-1850. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 9th ed. Vol. D. Gen. ed. Stephen
Greenblatt. Norton, 2011. Print.
A short biography of Wordsworths life.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/timeline/empireseapower_timeline_noflash.shtml
Another list of major events that occurred during his lifetime.