William Wordsworth

Didascalia alternativa:

to the edge of a nervous breakdown He moved to Dorset with his sister Dorothy, who constantly supported his poetry, she copied down his poems and recorded their life in her Journals. He met Samuel Taylor Coleridge and their friendship proved crucial to the development of English Romantic poetry: they produced a collection of poems called Lyrical Ballads which appeared anonymously in 1798 The start of romanticism The second edition in 1800 also contained Wordsworth's famous 'Preface' which was to become the Manifesto of English Romanticism. Wordsworth would deal with man, nature and everyday things trying to make them interesting for the reader, while Coleridge should write about the supernatural and mystery making them seem real. For Wordsworth poetry was a solitary act, originating not in the extraordinary but in the ordinary He tries to object that poetry was artificial, with elevated language (poetic diction) In humble rural life man is nearer to his own purer passions. In his 'Preface' he explained that the subject matter should deal with everyday situations or incidents and with ordinary people and the language should be simple The last years of his life were marked by the growing conservatism of his political views. He died in 1850. He has a pantheistic view Wordsworth shared Rousseau's faith in the goodness of nature (civilisation corrupt humans) as well as in the excellence of the child He was interested in the relationship between the natural world and the human consciousness His poetry offers a detailed account of the complex interaction between man and nature > How the poet feels, not how the nature is -> Nature is a source of pleasure and joy, it comfort man in sorrow (moral pain) and teaches him how to love and to act in a moral way is a world of sense perceptions and he used especially the sensibility of the eye and ear He believes our moral character develops during childhood as a result of the pleasure and pain caused by our physical experiences He's interested in the growth of his relationship with nature Memory is a major force in the process of growth of the poet's mind and moral character His task consists in drawing (attirare) attention to the ordinary things of life where the deepest emotions and truths can be found