William Wordsworth 1770-1850

William Wordsworth is one of the most influential writers classified under the Romantics. He came from a well-to-do family that afforded him a good education. He attended a good grammar school and later attended Cambridge University. His parents died when he was still a young boy, but his relatives helped put him through school. After graduating from Cambridge he traveled to France where he was an ardent supporter of the French Revolution. In 1795 a college friend’s legacy allowed Wordsworth to focus primarily on poetry. In 1797 he formed a productive friendship with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and they worked together on their poetry. Together they released Lyrical Ballads, with a few other poems in 1798.

Wordsworth was the first modern poet to write on the nature of poetry and what was the reason and purpose of poetry. I personally liked the idea that Wordsworth had of poetry because he believed that poetry was more about the ideas that influenced them and not so much the fancy wording of the poetry. This appealed to me because I have a hard enough time trying to decipher the meaning of poetry without having to translate the “uppity” language into everyday language. Wordsworth writes about everyday life from that of a common man’s perspective. I think this allows a lot of people to relate to his work on a much more intimate level. He claims that a poet is a man speaking to men on a human level that is understandable to all

One of the major goals that Wordsworth seeked to accomplish with his poetry was to create a greater awareness and caring about those around us. He seems to have a good understanding of the time in which he is living and the effect that it is having on the people of that time. He thinks that people are growing insensitive to the feelings and hardships of others around them. Society is becoming more and more callous with the times. Wordsworth wants to reverse this trend. A good example of how he attempts to do this is his poem, The Old Huntsman, with an incident in which he was concerned. This works focuses on Simon Lee, the old huntsman, who has seen better days. In his youth Simon Lee was strong and merry, but time has not be kind to Simon Lee. He has grown old and weary and his employer has long passed away. He practically has one foot in the grave and no one in his village seems to care much. The narrator of the poem comes across Simon Lee attempting to split an old root with little success. The narrator offers to help and splits the roots with one blow. Simon Lee is overcome with gratitude as his eyes fill with tears. I think that Wordsworth, in this poem, is trying to show how something so simple can make such a big difference. I think he is trying to encourage his readers to be more aware of the hardships of people around them and to help out when they can. As in the poem, it does not have to be anything major. Little things make a difference!