William Wordsworth is one of the most respected and loved poets of the Romantic period. Through his poetry, he expressed his emotions, fears and vulnerabilities, using nature as his muse. His timeless poems continue to inspire and encourage readers today. With this collection, Arcturus Publishing continues the release of works from renowned and prominent authors and poets. This collection displays some of his most notable poems, including 'Lines composed a few miles above Tintern Abbey,' ' Intimations on Immortality,' and 'Composed upon Westminster Bridge.'
William Wordsworth (1770-1850) was a major English romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their 1798 joint publication, Lyrical Ballads.
Wordsworth's masterpiece is generally considered to be The Prelude, an autobiographical poem of his early years, which the poet revised and expanded a number of times. The work was posthumously titled and published, prior to which, it was generally known as the poem "to Coleridge". Wordsworth was England's Poet Laureate from 1843 until his death in 1850.
A great selection of the work of one of the greatest and most transformative Romantic poets. Most of his best known poems are here, along with a few with which I was unfamiliar. Such a pleasant read.
This took me over a year to get through since I tended to forget about it for months on end. I loved the nature writing -- particularly descriptions of forests and streams and the changes between day and night. I wasn't as huge of a fan of the poems that told stories. One of my favorite poems ever, "Lines Written in Early Spring" is in this collection. I also enjoyed "Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey," "On Nature's Invitation Do I Come," "The Green Linnet," "I wandered lonely as a cloud," and "Scorn not the sonnet."
I'm working through a course in English literature, and there's quite a bit of poetry in the course. And I'm ashamed to confess, I'm not much of a poetry reader anymore, though I remember enjoying it in high school. I feel like I'm seeing it through fresh eyes now (probably all the dissecting of passages). I enjoyed getting to know this 'founding father of English poetry'. There are several passages that I plan to copy out in my traveler's journal just because I enjoyed them so much!
“Thus pleasure is spread through the earth In stray gifts to be claimed by whoever shall find Thus a rich loving-kindness, redundantly kind, Moves all nature to gladness and mirth”
Finishing this little book was a lovely reintroduction to the world of poetry.
'Three years she grew in sun and shower, Then Nature said, 'A lovelier flower On earth was never sown; This Child I to myself will take; She shall be mine, and I will make A lady of my own.'