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Life of William Wordsworth

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Life of William Wordsworth
Toni Partin
Dr. Cheryl Powell
ENC 1101- 70082 [ 28 July 2010 ]
Research Paper - rough draft

The Life of William WordsWorth William Wordsworth is considered one of the greatest poets during the English Romantic Period. He is also considered, only next to Shakespeare, one of the greatest sonneteers. There are some historians that even believe that William Wordsworth, along with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped launch the Romantic Period. This statement has been debated between historians, but one thing that they do agree on is, William Wordsworth shaped the literary era. The Romantic Period was a time that allowed artistic freedom. The early 60 's is the closest period of time that can be related to this time in history. The creativity and experimentation of artists, poets, and ordinary people was beginning to bloom. That was a period of great change. The Classical Period was more controlling. There were strict laws of the Classical Period slowly began to change as Romanticism moved away from such control. The Romantic Period was also a movement of literary and intellectual thinking. Romanticism emphasized on imagination, freedom of feelings, and was mostly connected within the visual arts, music, and literature. Imagination was more important than logic. This period is mostly associated with the arts and poets like William Wordsworth. William Wordsworth, the most significant poet of the English Romantic Period, was greatly influenced as a writer by his childhood, love of nature, and his many relationships. According to Judith W. Page, William Wordsworth was the " central poet of his age" (Gale 1). William Wordsworth 's poetry was drawn from his amazing memory, and was mostly based on Nature, people he watched, and personal experiences. Leslie Brisman said of Wordsworth, "To call William Wordsworth a "Memory Poet" is to note how he substitutes personal memories for other assurances of continuity, natural or divine." (276-277). Because each



Cited: Anderson, Dale and Harold Bloom. "Biography of William Wordsworth." Bloom 's Bio Critiques: William Wordsworth (2003): 5-52. Literary Reference Center Plus. Web. 14 Jul 2010. Aubrey, Bryan. "William Wordsworth." Dictionary of World Biography: The 19th Century (1999): 1-7. Literary Reference Center plus. Web. 14 Jul 2010. Brisman, Leslie. Romantic Origins. Ithaca: Cornell University, 1978. Print. Drabble, Margaret. "Wordsworth, William." The Oxford Companion to English Literature. 5th ed. Oxford: Oxford U P, 1985. 1084-1086. Print Gale, Thomson, ed. "William Wordsworth." Authors and Artists for Young Adults 70 (2010): 1- 18. Biography Resources Center. Web. 14 Jul 2010. George, Andrew J, ed. The complete Poetical Works of William Wordsworth: Cambridge Edition. Cambridge: Houghton Mifflin, 1932. Print. Hartman, Geoffrey H. "Wordsworth: The Romance of Nature and the Negative Way." English Romantic Poets. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House, 1986. 83-122. Print. Lee, Michelle, ed. Poetry Criticism. Vol. 67. Detroit: Gale, 2006. 245-374. Print. Purkis, John. A Preface to Wordsworth. Ed Maurice Hussey. New York: Scribner, 1970. Print. Watson, F.R. "William Wordsworth." Poets American and British. Ed. George Stade, Leonard Unger, and A. Walton Litz. Vol. 3. New York: Scriber, 1988. Print.

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