William Wordsworth - English Romantic movement

William Wordsworth
(1770-1850)


W. Wordsworth belongs to the English Romantic movement, particularly to its first generation (together with Coleridge, Percy and others).

For Romantic poetry are typical descriptions of nature, memories, flashbacks and sensibility. Emotionally it expressed an extreme assertion of the self and the value of individual experience. It is very static and its spirit depends on author`s mood very much.

Wordsworth narrates his own life in the verses. And so we can see the change in mood when he has an emotional breakdown, finds a companion (Coleridge), is homesick (during a winter in Germany), his brother drowns, two of his children die, he quarrels with Coleridge, his sister mentally and physically declines, his reputation and prosperity increases, he is recognized as a national poet, he is awarded honorary degrees, appointed a poet laureate...