English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, co-founded English Romanticism with the 1798 collection Lyrical Ballads, contributing its 1800 Preface, which called for poetry written in the real language of ordinary men rather than the elevated diction of the previous century. His long autobiographical poem The Prelude, revised across his lifetime and published only after his death in 1850, became one of English poetry's central accounts of the growth of a poet's mind.
Facts
Classification
Original Language FAQs
Why was The Prelude not published until after Wordsworth died?
He kept revising it for his whole life and it was published after his death in 1850.
Wordsworth worked on The Prelude throughout his life and revised it numerous times, and it was published only after his death. It appeared in 1850, after his death, as the long autobiographical poem on the growth of a poet's mind that many readers consider the crowning achievement of English Romanticism.
What did Wordsworth argue in the preface to Lyrical Ballads?
He argued for common speech in poems and against ranking epic poetry above the lyric.
In the preface to the second edition of Lyrical Ballads, which he wrote after publishing the collection with Samuel Taylor Coleridge in 1798, Wordsworth made the case for common speech in poetry. He also argued against the hierarchy of his period, which ranked epic poetry above the lyric.
Connections
Associated With
Co-founders of English Romanticism through Lyrical Ballads (1798).
Source Encyclopaedia Britannica
The Ode, Forms Source The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics
In Genre
Source The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics
In Movement
Source Encyclopaedia Britannica
Works Attributed
Source Encyclopaedia Britannica
In the Other Atlases
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Also in Language Atlas: the original language of this subject.
Nationality
Also in Geography Atlas: the nationality of this subject.
Sources
1. Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.- William Wordsworth entry
- Works Attributed: Lyrical Ballads
- Associated With: Samuel Taylor Coleridge
- In Movement: Romanticism
View the Source The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics
Princeton University Press- In Genre: Lyric Poetry
- Associated With: The Ode
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