William Wordsworth

There are few amongst us who have not heard of the great romantic poet William Wordsworth, an artist who has for centuries, enchanted his readers with his eloquent verse and magnificent imagery. As a man who revelled in the beauty of nature, his love of the natural world shines through his stirring words, while all the while he attempted to unveil the hidden magic of the countryside. From the beautiful sites of the Lake District where he spent most of his life to the Scottish Lowlands and beyond, Wordsworth created unforgettable images, which would change people's vision of rural Britain forever. Best known for his poem, "I wandered lonely as a Cloud", Wordsworth and his host of golden daffodils are part of literature's heritage but take the time to delve into his autobiographical work The Prelude and the Lyrical Ballads and you will find that there is so much more to this extraordinary individual. Wordsworth was among those who wrote at a time when Europe was in the midst of great turmoil, and as cries of liberty and reform rang out from revolutionary France, the waves of social change would have a profound effect on his life and his work. From the cobbled streets of Paris to the craggy rocks and shining lakes of Cumbria the tale of William Wordsworth is as full of surprises as it is eloquent verse. "Twere long to tell What spring and autumn, what the winter snows, And what the summer shade, what day and night The evening and the morning, what my dreams And what my naked thoughts supplied, to nurse That spirit of religious love in which I walked with nature.