William Wordsworth (1770 -1850) is one of the most popular and enduring of the English poets. His poetry is beloved for its deep feeling, its use of ordinary speech, and its celebration of nature and of the beauty and poetry in the commonplace. Together with his friend, the poet and political activist Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Wordsworth helped launch the romantic age in English literature. These poems demonstrate the astonishing range and beauty of Wordsworth's work and his sustained, coherent vision.
William Wordsworth was a defining member of the English Romantic Movement. Like other Romantics, his personality and poetry were deeply influenced by his love of nature.
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"[Wordsworth's poetry] is great because of the extraordinary power with which [he] feels the joy offered to us in nature, the joy offered to us in the simple elementary affections and duties." (Matthew Arnold)