He is buried in a churchyard in Grasmere and his family home at Dove Cottage is now a museum. William Wordsworth died in April 1850 from a disease of the lungs.He also received an honorary degree from Oxford University in 1838.

He became Poet Laureate in 1843, although wrote no poetry after being given the title.Comic Mike Myers is a relative of Wordsworth – he is the poet’s first cousin, 7 times removed.Wordsworth’s sister, Dorothy, was also a well known poet and author.It was called The Borderers and was a tragedy set during King Henry III’s reign. In 1796, William Wordsworth wrote his only play, which was turned down by a London theatre.The 14 books of the work also focus on a love of nature and the outdoors. His greatest work is The Prelude, an autobiographical poem written in 1798 in blank verse.He tried to use everyday language so the poems would appeal to ordinary people. During the 1790s, William Wordsworth produced a collection of poetry, called the Lyrical Ballads.It has been voted Britain’s 5th favourite poem, has been released in a rap version, and has been recited by 150,000 children at once. Wordsworth’s best known poem is probably Daffodils.He also lived in Germany for a short time, although he complained of the cold and of being homesick. Wordsworth visited France in 1791 and became a supporter of the Republicans.He published his first poem at 17, was educated at Cambridge and spent summer holidays walking in the Alps.He was born in the Lake District, in April, 1770 where he lived most of his life.

The Romantic Movement in arts and literature was a reaction to the Industrial Revolution. William Wordsworth was one of the most important of the Romantic poets, and introduced a new poetry style.In this fine georgian house Wordsworth was born in 1770.Here are some facts about William Wordsworth. Wordsworth House, Main St, Cockermouth, CA13 9RX. Rydal Mount - Wordsworth's home from 1813-1850. It was here that he wrote his best poetry. Places to see associated with William Wordsworth:ĭove Cottage/Wordsworth Museum - Wordsworth's home from 1799-1808. In The Idiot Boy the child is supposed to be less intelligent than his peers. He was still Poet Laureate when he died of pleurisy in 1850. To put it simply, both nature and childhood had the same theme for Wordsworth. He initially refused, pleading his advancing age, but was induced by Sir Robert Peel to take the post. When Robert Southey, the Poet Laureate, died in 1843, Wordsworth was asked to take his place. He published a travel guide to the Lake District which proved very popular. In the absence of success for his poems, Wordsworth turned to travel writing. Although his poems were critically panned, they were gaining a wide popular readership. Shortly thereafter Wordsworth got himself appointed Distributor of Stamps for Westmorland, which brought him enough money to continue writing. Wordsworth's happy home life turned to tragedy when two of his four children died within a year.

William published a two-volume set of his poetry in 1807, and once more it was met by public indifference and scathing reviews (by Lord Byron among others). Mary, William, and his sister Dorothy lived together in the Lake District village of Grasmere. In 1802 Wordsworth received money owed to his father, and he was financially secure enough to marry Mary Hutchinson, an old childhood friend. Later, Coleridge's drug addiction and erratic behavior put an end to their friendship. They collaborated on a volume of Romantic verse called Lyrical Ballads (1798), which was notable for its attempt to use ordinary language in a poetic fashion. However, friends arranged for money to allow him to concentrate on his writing.Īt this time Wordsworth met poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and the two became firm friends. He published two poems, Descriptive Sketches, and An Evening Walk, which were not well received. William was sent to Cambridge, and upon graduation he travelled in Europe for a time, but when the money ran out Wordsworth returned home. Wordsworth's father did not survive his wife by long, and when he died in 1783 the Wordsworth children found themselves living with two uncles who were not best pleased to receive them. When Wordsworth's mother Anne died in 1778, young William was sent to attend grammar school away from home. His father, John, was a lawyer, and he encouraged his five children to pursue learning. William Wordsworth was born on April 7, 1770, in Cockermouth, Cumberland.

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