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WILLIAM WORDSWORTH (1770 – 1850) William Wordsworth was born in an English beautiful region, near the Scottish border where he lived for many years and which became his first source of inspiration because of his contact with nature when he was young. An important aspect of his life was the friendship with Coleridge, which signed the development of the English romantic poetry. The two poets wrote together a collection of poems called “LYRICAL BALLADS”, which also contains Wordsworth’s famous preface that became the Manifesto of English Romanticism. His masterpiece is “THE PRELUDE”, a long autobiographical poem. Wordsworth is one of the English “nature-poet”; but he isn’t interested in natural world and in the observation of his phenomena, but in the relationship between natural world and human consciousness, with the sensations and the emotions which arise from this interaction. One of the most important concepts in Wordsworth is the idea that man and nature are inseparable, that man doesn’t exist outside the natural world, he is part of it. Men learn love, happiness and beauty when they look at natural elements. He thinks that in nature there are a lot of values which are the guide to the spiritual and moral life of men. Nature is seen not as beautiful scenery, but as a spiritual influence on life. He identifies the natural universe with God. Nature means also the world of sense perceptions. Wordsworth believed that sensations lead to simple thoughts and then to complex and organised ideas. These 3 stages of the mind’s development correspond to the 3 ages of a man: childhood, youth and adulthood. In fact Wordsworth was interested in the changes of relationship with nature in the different moments of life. For Wordsworth childhood is the most important age in man’s life (in a poem he says "the Child is father to the Man") because of imagination and memory that are more vivid than in the adults. In particular, memory is important because it gives life and power to the poetry.

William Wordsworth

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William Wordsworth's life and poetry

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Page 1: William Wordsworth

WILLIAM WORDSWORTH (1770 – 1850)

William Wordsworth was born in an English beautiful region, near the Scottish border where he lived for many years and which became his first source of inspiration because of his contact with nature when he was young.An important aspect of his life was the friendship with Coleridge, which signed the development of the English romantic poetry. The two poets wrote together a collection of poems called “LYRICAL BALLADS”, which also contains Wordsworth’s famous preface that became the Manifesto of English Romanticism. His masterpiece is “THE PRELUDE”, a long autobiographical poem.Wordsworth  is one of the English “nature-poet”;  but he  isn’t   interested  in natural  world and in the observation of his phenomena, but in the relationship between natural world and human consciousness, with the sensations and the emotions which arise from this  interaction. One of the most  important concepts in Wordsworth is the idea that man and nature are inseparable, that man doesn’t exist outside the natural world, he is part of it. Men learn love, happiness and beauty when they look at natural elements. He thinks that in nature there are a lot of values which are the guide to the spiritual and moral  life of men. Nature is seen not as beautiful scenery, but as a spiritual influence on life. He identifies the natural universe with God. Nature means also the world of sense perceptions.  Wordsworth believed that sensations lead to simple thoughts   and   then   to   complex   and   organised   ideas.   These   3   stages   of   the  mind’s   development correspond to the 3 ages of a man: childhood, youth and adulthood. In fact Wordsworth was interested in the changes of relationship with nature in the different moments of life. For Wordsworth childhood is the most important age in man’s life (in a poem he says "the Child is father to the Man") because of imagination and memory that are more vivid than  in the adults.   In particular,  memory  is   important because it gives life and power to the poetry.The Poet is a teacher who shows to other men how to explain their feelings and improve their moral being. In his poems Wordsworth describes ordinary things and real emotions. He doesn't want to speak only to a little elite of people, but to a much more numerous audience, using an ordinary language that all people can speak and understand; he very often used blank verse and  different kinds of poems, as sonnets, odes, ballads and simple lyrics.In the Preface of “Lyrical Ballads”, Wordsworth expresses a new concept of poetry, which emphasises the authenticity of rustic life and the use of a simple language. Wordsworth describes stories from common life, using a spoken and easy language. In fact, his language is not sophisticated, because he believes that simple feelings have to be expressed with simple expressions. In this way everybody can understand what the poet says . Education and the civilised world are seen in a negative way by Wordsworth. On the contrary, in the country life man can  better express his feelings.Poetry becomes a vocation, and the poet is a prophet: a poet has got much more sensibility, enthusiasm and tenderness than ordinary men, a greater knowledge of human nature, a more comprehensive soul and  imagination that makes him look at the nature with different eyes. 

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