wordsworth, context and critics

French Revolution

Early supporter of the French Revolution but became disillusioned by the reign of terror, turning to nature and moral reflections instead of politics

Lyrical ballads

Wordsworth preface to lyrical ballads outlines his poetic aims, the use of everyday language, focus on common life and the belief that poetry should arise from emotion recollected in tranquility

The rural poor

He had deep sympathy for rural and working class people, especially those affected by industrialisation and enclosure acts, his poems often depicted dignified suffering, wisdom and simplify rural life

Personal grief and loss

He suffered the deaths of his parents, siblings and later children, his poetry often grapples with mortality and emotional endurance to find healing and continuity through nature and memory

Religious and spiritual views

Though not traditionally religious, he beleived in a divine spirit present in nature, he beleived nature replaced the church as a source of moral guidance and spiritual revelation