William Wordsworth Influences

Influence of biography on work:

William Wordsworth wrote poems that reflected upon his personal experiences. To illustrate the influences and the type of encouragement that he drew on to write his poetry, the main period to focus on was during the hard times in 1779-1789 in Hawkshead. While living with unfriendly relatives, Wordsworth would often find time and make trips to the country side where he was influenced by nature; this was the initially time where he received much recognition for his poetry.

Another important experience that influenced him was when Dorothy and he lived together in a tiny cottage, which they named ‘Dove Cottage’, that’s set in the wild and desolate scenery of The Lake District. They would often spend time together

walking and writing poems that revealed their emotional and intellectual responses to the nature and the landscape around them. In addition, Dorothy also kept a journal that covered the years they spent together at Dove Cottage. With the help of her journal, William was able to affirm his own responses and feelings about nature when writing poetry.
The spectacular landscape of the Lake District has been a huge influence on Wordsworth’s poetry. In 1804, he composed ‘I wandered lonely as a Cloud,’ which is well known today as the most famous poem in the English language. He was influenced to write this poem when he saw flowers while walking by Ullswater on a stormy day with Dorothy. It is a simple poem that refers back to the familiar subject of nature and memory. In this poem, William says that a poet could not help but be happy in such a joyful company of flowers.
While touring in France, Wordsworth came into contact with the French Revolution.

This experience reinforced his sympathy for common people and his belief in political freedom, which influenced him to write his earliest poetry, ‘An Evening Walk’ and ‘Descriptive Sketches.’

Another important event that influenced the poetic life of Wordsworth was his 1795 meeting with the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Wordsworth with the help of Coleridge published the famous Lyrical Ballads in 1789. During that time, Wordsworth wanted to compete “the gaudiness and inane phraseology of modern writers.” Most of his poems in this collection focused on the simple yet deeply human feelings of ordinary people. Therefore, his views on this new kind of poetry were specifically described in the important ‘Preface’ that he wrote for the second edition of ‘Lyrical Ballads.’

As a result of the French Revolution, France and Napoleon soon became Wordsworth’s favourite symbols of cruelty and oppression. His intense pride of his own country inspired him to produce the two "Memorials of a Tour in Scotland" (1803, 1814) and the group entitled "Poems Dedicated to National Independence and

Liberty."
With the ideas suggested in of one of his poems ‘Intimations of Immortality’, he was inspired to produce the most outstanding achievement of English romanticism: The Prelude. It is an autobiographical conversation poem written in blank verse, that’s extremely personal and reveals the details of Wordsworth’s life. He began at the age of 28 and continued to work on it throughout his life. With other influences, he was inspired to compose more and more poems.
Themes:
Some of the main themes that are being explored in William Wordsworth’s poetry include ‘nature’, and ‘memory/ the power of human mind.’
Throughout Wordsworth’s work, nature provides the ultimate good influence of the human mind.

The appearances of the natural world would raise thoughts and passionate emotions of the people who appreciate and observes it. Wordsworth repeatedly highlights the importance of nature in many of his poems and states that a good relationship with nature helps individuals connect to both spiritual and the socialized worlds. As Wordsworth explains in The Prelude, a love of nature can lead to a love of humankind. On the other hand, he wrote two poems, ‘The World is Too Much with Us’ and ‘London, 1802, that emphasizes the selfishness and immorality of people when they are separated from nature by living in cities. Therefore, artificial social conventions as well as the revolting lives in cities will corrupt humanity’s innate empathy. In contrast, people who spend a lot of time in nature, such as labourers and farmers, will retain the purity and nobility of their

souls.
The power of human mind is extremely important to Wordsworth. Some of his poems beings in a negative or depressed and then slowly turns to more positive. The most important use of memory is to perhaps maintain the connections. For example, in poems such as “Lines Composed a few miles above Tintern Abbey” and “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud.” Both poems explain that Wordsworth is in nature and he is happy, but he becomes happier when he realizes that he doesn’t have to leave his memories behind. Once he has returned from the daily gloom of the city, he will be able to remember the time she spent with nature and make himself happy again: “and then my heart with pleasure fills, and dances with the daffodils.’
Associations with other poets:
Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poetic diction is different to William Wordsworth. He relies more heavily on imagination for poetic inspiration and he also incorporates religion into his poetry differently. However, when Coleridge read the poetry of Wordsworth, he was specifically drawn to the political elements of his poem Descriptive Sketches, and realized they had a few connections. In 1797, they met each other ¬
they developed a closer relationship and communicated with one another regularly. In 1789, the published their joint effort, Lyrical Ballads.
The experience of them together in Alfoxden has influenced them to produce the Lyrical Ballads. They enjoyed the simple pleasures of spending time together, discussing ideas and devising schemes for publications. However, their relationship slowly declined; starts with criticisms of each other’s poetry, then into conflicting views on creativity and intellect, and finally
Wordsworth referred to him as a “burden” and a “rotten drunkard”. This concluded their relationship, William had deeply upset Coleridge, who by this point was addicted to drugs and became very sensitive about the topic. From then on, their relationship was never the same again. Although they once been compatible and often paired together as Romantic poets, it was surprising that their unique differences ruined the friendship.
Structures and devices:
Wordsworth started writing at the beginning of the Romantic Movement, and one of the things that Romantics were most concerned about was the growth of cities, the commercialization of life and the growing influence of science which often target at controlling nature rather than relating to it.
Wordsworth’s famous poetic legacy is spread throughout a large number of important poems, varying in length from the short, simple sonnets to the vast area of The Prelude, thirteen books long in its 1808 edition. Looking back through the old poems that he had established, he believed that the poet’s role was to guide others through transforming power of the poetic imagination. Reflecting on many of his poems, he is known for describing nature appearances and effects and enhancing views of life and duty. But his greatest characteristic in romantic poetry is his sense for the mystic relations between man and nature. He uses nature to exemplify the positive and negatives of human kind and his use of memory and imagination leads to connect to real life events of the human mind and characteristic. ‘The World is Too Much With Us’ is a great example of this.