William Wordsworth was a major English Romantic poet who, along with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication Lyrical Ballads in 1798. Wordsworth's poetry is characterized by a love of nature, a sense of the beauty and spiritual significance of ordinary things, and a belief in the power of the imagination.
Wordsworth was born in Cockermouth, England in 1770, the second of five children of John Wordsworth, a legal representative of James Lowther, 1st Earl of Lonsdale, and Ann Cookson Wordsworth. His mother died when he was eight, and his father sent him to live with his grandparents in the countryside, where he developed a love of nature and spent much of his time outdoors.
Wordsworth was educated at Hawkshead Grammar School and later at St. John's College, Cambridge, where he studied theology. However, he was more interested in poetry than in pursuing a career in the clergy, and after leaving Cambridge he embarked on a walking tour of Europe, which had a profound influence on his writing.
Upon his return to England, Wordsworth began to write poetry in earnest, and in 1798 he and Coleridge published Lyrical Ballads, a collection of poems that marked the beginning of the Romantic movement in English literature. The poems in this collection, including Wordsworth's "Tintern Abbey" and "The Prelude," explored the relationship between the individual and nature and celebrated the power of the imagination.
Wordsworth's most famous work is The Prelude, an autobiographical poem that tells the story of his spiritual and intellectual development. It is considered one of the greatest poems in the English language and is often studied in literature classes.
Throughout his career, Wordsworth was interested in the social and political issues of his day, and many of his poems reflect this interest. He was a strong advocate for social justice and was critical of the Industrial Revolution and its effects on the natural world.
Wordsworth died in 1850 at the age of 80. Today, he is remembered as one of the greatest poets in the English language and his work continues to be read and studied around the world.