William Wordsworth（1770–1850）

      On April 7, 1770, William Wordsworth was born in Cockermouth, Cumbria, England. Wordsworth's mother died when he was eight—this experience shapes much of his later work. Wordsworth attended Hawkshead Grammar School, where his love of poetry was firmly established and, it is believed, he made his first attempts at verse. While he was at Hawkshead, Wordsworth's father died leaving him and his four siblings orphans. After Hawkshead, Wordsworth studied at St. John's College in Cambridge and before his final semester, he set out on a walking tour of Europe, an experience that influenced both his poetry and his political sensibilities. While touring Europe, Wordsworth came into contact with the French Revolution. This experience as well as a subsequent period living in France, brought about Wordsworth's interest and sympathy for the life, troubles, and speech of the "common man." These issues proved to be of the utmost importance to Wordsworth's work. Wordsworth's earliest poetry was published in 1793 in the collections An Evening Walk and Descriptive Sketches. While living in France, Wordsworth conceived a daughter, Caroline, out of wedlock; he left France, however, before she was born. In 1802, he returned to France with his sister on a four-week visit to meet Caroline. Later that year, he married Mary Hutchinson, a childhood friend, and they had five children together. In 1812, while living in Grasmere, two of their children—Catherine and John—died.

      Equally important in the poetic life of Wordsworth was his 1795 meeting with the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge. It was with Coleridge that Wordsworth published the famous Lyrical Ballads (J. & A. Arch) in 1798. While the poems themselves are some of the most influential in Western literature, it is the preface to the second edition that remains one of the most important testaments to a poet's views on both his craft and his place in the world. In the preface Wordsworth writes on the need for "common speech" within poems and argues against the hierarchy of the period which valued epic poetry above the lyric.

      Wordsworth's most famous work, The Prelude (Edward Moxon, 1850), is considered by many to be the crowning achievement of English romanticism. The poem, revised numerous times, chronicles the spiritual life of the poet and marks the birth of a new genre of poetry. Although Wordsworth worked on The Prelude throughout his life, the poem was published posthumously. Wordsworth spent his final years settled at Rydal Mount in England, travelling and continuing his outdoor excursions. Devastated by the death of his daughter Dora in 1847, Wordsworth seemingly lost his will to compose poems. William Wordsworth died at Rydal Mount on April 23, 1850, leaving his wife Mary to publish The Prelude three months later.

      华兹华斯（William Wordsworth，1770-1850年），英国浪漫主义诗人，曾当上桂冠诗人。其诗歌理论动摇了英国古典主义诗学的统治，有力地推动了英国诗歌的革新和浪漫主义运动的发展。他是文艺复兴运动以来最重要的英语诗人之一，其诗句“朴素生活，高尚思考（plain living and high thinking）”被作为牛津大学基布尔学院的格言。

  华兹华斯生于律师之家，曾就读于剑桥大学圣约翰学院，毕业后到欧洲旅行，在法国亲身领略了大革命的风暴。1783年其父去世，他和弟兄们由舅父照管，妹妹多萝西（Dorothy）则由外祖父母抚养。多萝西与他最为亲近。

  1787年他进剑桥大学圣约翰学院学习，大学毕业后去法国，住在布卢瓦。他对法国革命怀有热情，认为这场革命表现了人性的完美，将拯救帝制之下处于水深火热中的人民。在布卢瓦他结识了许多温和派的吉伦特党人。1792年华兹华斯回到伦敦，仍对革命充满热情。但他的舅父对他的政治活动表示不满，不愿再予接济。正在走投无路时，一位一直同情并钦佩他的老同学去世，留给他900英镑。于是在1795年10月，他与多萝西一起迁居乡间，实现接近自然并探讨人生意义的宿愿。多萝西聪慧体贴，给他创造了创作的条件。后来她也成为了诗人。一直与他作伴，终身未嫁。