Wordsworth’s Poetical Works

William Wordsworth (1770–1850) was a deeply introspective, complex individual whose public persona as a quiet, solitary walker of the English Lake District was forged through intense personal transformation. Raised amidst the rugged peaks of Cumberland, his youth was marked by early family tragedy, which fostered a profound emotional reliance on his sister and lifelong intellectual companion, Dorothy Wordsworth. As a young man, Wordsworth traveled to France and became an ardent, idealistic supporter of the French Revolution, an experience that left him deeply disillusioned following the subsequent Reign of Terror and the rise of Napoleon. This severe political heartbreak, paired with a secret, agonizing separation from his French mistress and illegitimate daughter, caused him to turn completely away from radical politics. Retiring to Dove Cottage in Grasmere, he refashioned himself as a rustic, pantheistic philosopher, presenting a public persona that celebrated simple rural living, deep emotional transparency, and an almost religious devotion to the healing powers of the natural world.

As a poet, Wordsworth permanently dismantled the rigid, aristocratic conventions of the 18th-century Enlightenment, single-handedly launching the British Romantic Movement with the 1798 publication of Lyrical Ballads, a monumental collaboration with Samuel Taylor Coleridge. In its revolutionary preface, Wordsworth famously defined poetry as "the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility," advocating for verses written in the accessible language of ordinary people. His core works—including "Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey," "Ode: Intimations of Immortality," and "The Solitary Reaper"—masterfully explored how the human mind interacts with the natural world through sensory memory and psychological introspection. His absolute masterpiece, The Prelude, a massive, deeply personal autobiographical epic tracking the growth of his own poetic mind, was kept private during his lifetime and published only posthumously in 1850. Serving as Britain's Poet Laureate from 1843 until his death, Wordsworth's vast body of work established the blueprint for modern nature poetry.

Rich green Victorian binding with elaborate gilt decorations to upper board and within spinal compartments. Gile edges. Green bookmark with purple tassel. Some sun fading to spine and upper corner. Fine condition.