William Worsworth

Flashcards covering the key aspects of William Worsworth's life and works, based on lecture notes.

William Wordsworth

Greatest English Romantic poet, wrote about nature, and was made poet laureate of England.

Lake District

Area of supreme natural beauty in the North of England, where Wordsworth was born.

Wordsworth's Childhood

He was allowed to wander freely in the countryside, which inspired his later poetry.

Cambridge

Wordsworth found the atmosphere at Cambridge not particularly stimulating.

French Revolution Impact

Tremendous impact on Wordsworth. He became a fervent supporter of revolutionary ideas.

Annette Valon

French girl who bore Wordsworth a daughter, Caroline, but they did not marry.

The Prelude

Wordsworth’s great autobiographical poem describing his personal and political struggles.

Lyrical Ballads

Collection of poetry reflecting the spirit of the time, focusing on ordinary people and speech, marking the beginning of modern poetry and the poetry of the self.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Wordsworth's lifelong friend and collaborator on Lyrical Ballads.

Wordsworth and Coleridge Collaboration

Met in 1797 and lived in the same area, influencing each other's poems, but later bitterly quarreled.

Wordsworth's Contribution to Lyrical Ballads

He contributed his love of natural and ordinary subjects.

Coleridge's Contribution to Lyrical Ballads

He contributed his love of the exotic and the supernatural.

The Prelude (Posthumous Publication)

Long narrative poem published after Wordsworth's death by his sister Dorothy, originally titled Poem to Coleridge.