William Wordsworth: The Story Of My Life

I was born on April 7, 1770 in Cumberland England. I had five siblings, a father, and a mother. My father was a lawyer so we had the luxuries of middle class men. My sister, Dorothy, was very close with me. She was a great companion. When I was eight, my mother died. This split my family up. My brother, Richard, and I were sent to grammar school. At this point my father was not involved in my life as much as he used to be.

In 1783, my father had died, leaving me and my siblings nothing. I used to walk around the lake district, I certainly enjoyed my time outdoors. This led me to not have the best grades in school .

After I finished grammar school in 1783, I went to Cambridge University in 1787. My family wanted me to become a lawyer like my father; however, I did not do well at University either. I graduated without honors. I took big trips in college.

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I traveled to many different countries in Europe. During this time the French Revolution began. In 1791, I traveled to France to witness everything.

While in France, I met girondists and became fascinated with politics. It began to consume my life. There, I also met Annette Vallon. She was the mother of my first child. We were not married. I had promised her I would support her and our daughter, Caroline, with money; however, I never did. I had gone back to England when France went to war with them in 1793.

That same year, I had published two poems. They were An Evening Walk and Descriptive Sketches.

After I came back to England and published my poems, I had problems with money. I had no income and I really needed something to keep me stable. Right at this time, an acquaintance offered to help me. His name was Raisley Calvert. He agreed to share his income with me. He even left everything in his will to me. Sadly, he eventually died. I inherited everything and was very comfortable with the money he left me.

I had gone to London and became a disciple of philosopher, William Godwin. For several months I had met significant politicians. I really enjoyed my time there, engaging with these people. There I had met Samuel Coleridge, who eventually became eloquent partner.

I had gotten a chance to move with my sister, Dorothy, in 1797. Dorothy has always been my muse. She is the one that inspired me to write about nature. One time when we went to the beach, I watched her burst into tears. Her passion for nature sparked a flame in my writing. The college was near where Coleridge lived and that is when we had worked really hard together.

For the next several years, Coleridge and I continued to work together. We were great partners. There was so much creativity in our poems. In 1798, we had published Lyrical Ballads. We had also published a second Lyrical Ballads, as well as more poems.

In 1799, my sister and I moved again. We had moved back to the lake district. We had moved to a cottage Grasmere. Alfter Coleridge returned from tour of Germany we went on together, he moved next to Dorothy and I. We all lived happy lives from then. In 1802, I married a childhood friend, Mary Hutchinson, and together we had 5 children. Two of our children had died early in their childhood.

During this time, my writing began to decline. Coleridge and I published Poems in Two Volumes; however, many people did not like it. began to become a real father and I stayed at home most of the time. I had a lot of responsibility. I had to take care of my sister, my wife, my children, and Coleridge’s family. I had to keep moving from house to house, each getting larger and larger for the my growing household.

I began to think negatively of Coleridge. He became addicted to drugs. I could not sustain him and his family. Our relationship grew apart and I moved away. I moved with Dorothy and my family to Rydal Mount, our forever home. There for several years, I focused on raising my children. I taught them and watched their knowledge grow.I had plenty of time on my hands so I began working on the house. I upgraded it and did landscaping.

I still wrote and published my work. I published Collected Works and The White Doe of Rylstone in 1915. I also published The Waggner and and I published Peter Bell in 1819. Many people began to criticize my work. It was not until I published a series of sonnets, River Duddon, in 1819. I finally stabilized my fame. I believed it would do poorly, since the poems I published with Coleridge did badly; however, I made a large sum of money. I began to work more and published another series of sonnets, The Ecclesiastical Sonnets, in 1822.

As I got older, people began to see little value in my writings. In the 1840s I was awarded a pension for all of my work. I was asked to become the Poet Laureate for the queen in 1843. At this point I knew I was already really old and I thought it would be best to decline. I eventually agreed and succeeded Robert Southey, who was the former Poet Laureate and my friend.

It has been 7 years since I started writing for the queen. My daughter, Dora, died in 1847. It truly broke my heart. I am beginning to feel a loss of passion in my writings. I lost my spark, my flame. It is the year 1850 now. I have become really sick and I do not know if I will make it through these hard days.