William Wordsworth's Life

Born on the 7th of April in 1770, William Wordsworth helped launch the Romanticism Era by writing major romantic poems. Wordsworth experienced a hard start to his life from a young age of eight when his mother died from an infection.  Following his mother’s death, he and his four siblings were sent to live with relatives.  Dorothy, one of his four siblings, also became a poet and influenced his work. She was a year younger then Wordsworth and they seemed to be the closest of the siblings despite the nine year period when they were separated during their later schooling. Wordsworth’s father who was a legal representative taught Wordsworth poetry from Milton, Shakespeare and Spenser. In Hawkshead Grammar School, Wordsworth developed a love of poetry which continued throughout college. After college he toured Europe on foot where he encountered the French Revolution. While he was in France he fell in love and had a relationship with Annette Vallon who gave birth to his first child, Caroline. During this time, Wordsworth’s experiences later prevailed in his poetry. 

Wordsworth’s first publication was in 1787 when he entered his sonnet in The European Magazine.  In 1793 Wordsworth's earliest poems "An Evening Walk" and "Descriptive Sketches" were published in an attempt to raise money. Wordsworth's natural poetic style reflects the work he did with Samuel Taylor Coleridge on the poetry collection “Lyrical Ballads.” Coleridge and Wordsworth bonded quickly and developed a strong friendship that would help their future work together. Some of the poems written by Wordsworth are"Tintern Abbey," "The Brothers," “Michael," "The Excursion," “The Thorn,” and "The Prelude." In all his poems the environment around him plays a roll.

In 1802 Wordsworth married Mary Hutchinson and they lived together in a cottage; his sister Dorothy lived with them. In 1812 the family experienced many tragedies that would change their lives forever.  In June their fourth child Catherine  died due to convulsions, and just 6 months later their third child Thomas died of pneumonia. The sonnet “Surprised by Joy” was about Catherine’s death. In 1847 his daughter Dora died from tuberculosis. On April 23rd, 1850 Wordsworth died due to pleurisy, an inflammation of the lung cavity. He lived over 80 years and wrote hundreds of striking poems during his life.