WILLIAM WORDSWORTH | PREFACE TO LYRICAL BALLADS | CHAPTER # 1 | WITH URDU TRANSLATION
Preface To the Lyrical Ballads
Chapter No: 1
Introduction to William Wordsworth (1770-1850)
LIFE AND WORKS OF WILLIAM WORDSWORTH
Birth, Childhood and Education
William Wordsworth, the second son
of a lower middle-class family, was born on April 7, 1770, at Cockermouth in the
Lake District of Cumberland. The loss of his parents at an early age made him
dependent upon his uncles for his education. He went to school at Hawkshead,
where he read what he wanted. He was greatly influenced, at this early age
itself, by the scenes around him.
In 1787, he entered St. John's
College in Cambridge as an undergraduate. But he did not care much for the
college curriculum. It was during this period, when he spent his holidays at Hawkshead
and Penrith, that he met Mary Hutchinson, whom he married later.
Visit to France, the meeting with Annette Vellon, and the French Revolution
Wordsworth interrupted his
educational career in 1790 by going on a walking tour of France, Switzerland, and Italy with a friend. In 1791, after receiving his degree at Cambridge, he
returned to France, ostensibly to learn the language.
Wordsworth met Annette Vellon in
France, for whom he developed a deep passion. He had a daughter, Anne Caroline,
by Annette Vellon. He did not, however, marry Annette. The Revolution in France
initially affected Wordsworth very deeply. But his friends dissuaded him from
taking an active part in it and stopped his allowance from home. He had to
return to England. But the philosophy acquired in the course of the Revolution
left a lasting mark on Wordsworth. It is seen in his spokesmanship for the
common man. He later became disillusioned with it. What disillusioned him was
the excesses committed in the name of the Revolution.
The excesses and the declaration of
war between England and France brought a rude shock to the poet's dreams of a
newborn world, in which liberty held full sway. At this period of crisis, his
sister, Dorothy, played an important role as a healer.
The legacy, settling at Racedown and the meeting with Coleridge
In 1795, a fortunate legacy enabled
Wordsworth to settle down at Racedown with his sister. Here he met Coleridge,
and thus began a significant friendship of his career. In 1797, Coleridge moved
to Somersetshire, and the Wordsworths followed. In 1798, the two writers
published jointly that little volume, which would eventually come into its own
as one of the most important milestones of English literature—Lyrical Ballads.
After the publication of Lyrical Ballads, the Wordsworths went on a tour of
Germany. It was in the winter spent in Germany that Wordsworth wrote the famous
poems of the Lucy series.
Marriage and his last years
Towards the end of 1799, Wordsworth
and his sister settled at Grasmere. In 1802, he married his childhood friend
Mary Hutchin-son. As their family grew in size, they moved to Rydal Mount,
which was his last abode. As he grew older, he became more conservative in
matters of religion and politics. In 1843, long after the passage of his really
creative period, he was appointed Poet Laureate. He died at Rydal Mount on
April 23, 1850, and was buried at Grasmere churchyard.
Though his works had been criticized
earlier, when they were published, the passage of time brought admiration and
respect. After his death, a monument in his honor was erected in Westminster
Abbey.
PRINCIPAL WORKS OF WILLIAM
WORDSWORTH—POEMS
● Lyrical
Ballads, 1798 (with Coleridge).
● Lyrical
Ballads, enlarged, with Preface, 1800.
● Poems
in Two Volumes, 1807.
● The
Excursion, 1814.
● The
White Doe of Rylstone, 1815.
● Peter
Bell and the Waggoner, 1819.
● The
River Duddon, 1820.
● Ecclesiastical
Sketches, 1822.
● Memorials
of a Four on the Continent, 1822.
● Yarrow
Revisited and Other Poems, 1835
● Sonnets,
1838.
● Poems,
Chiefly of Early and Late Years, 1842.
● Collected
Poems, 1849-50.
● The
Prelude, 1850.