WORDSWORTH, WILLIAM, an eminent English poet, born at Cockermouth, in the hill region of Cumberland, April 7, 1770; died at Rydal Mount, Westmoreland, April 23, 1850. His father, who was law agent for Sir James Lowther, afterward Earl of Lonsdale, died when his son was thirteen, his mother having died several years before. In 1787 he was entered at St. John's College, Cambridge, where he took his Bachelor's degree in 1791. Soon afterward he went to France, where he remained about a year, returning to England at the opening of the "Reign of Terror." His friends urged him to enter the Church; but he wished to devote himself to poetry. Raisley Calvert, a young friend of his, dying in 1795, left him a legacy of £900, which enabled him to carry out his wish. Of his modest way of life he says: "Upon the interest of the £900-£400 being laid out in an annuity, with £200 deducted from the principal, and £100, a legacy to my sister, and £100 more which the Lyrical Ballads brought me, my sister and I contrived to live seven years, nearly eight." To this sister, Dorothy Wordsworth, Wordsworth owed. more than to any other person-his wife not excepted. In time, a debt of some £3,000 which had been due to his father was paid, and the poet was placed beyond pecuniary straits. In 1798 Words worth and his sister, accompanied by Coleridge, went to Germany. Returning after a few months, Wordsworth took up his residence at Grassmere, in the Lake region, and finally, in 1813, at Rydal Mount, his home for the remaining thirty-seven years of his life, which was singularly devoid of external incident. The income derived from his writings was never large; but in 1813 he received, through the influence of his fast friend, the Earl of Lonsdale, the appointment of Distributor of Stamps for Westmoreland, which brought him £500 a year. This position he resigned in 1842, in favor of his son, he himself receiving a pension of £300. Southey, dying in 1843, was succeeded as Poet Laureate by Wordsworth, who was succeeded by Tennyson. The Life of Wordsworth has been written by his nephew, the Rev. Christopher Wordsworth (1851), and by Frederick Myers in "English Men of Letters" (1882). Many interesting personal details of him are contained in Mr. Crabb Robinson's Diary (1869). Wordsworth's first volume of Poems appeared in 1793; in 1798 was published the Lyrical Ballads one of which was Coleridge's Ancient Mariner, all the others being by Wordsworth. From time to time he made excursions in Wales, Scotland, Switzerland, and Italy, of all of which he put forth Memorials in verse. His other poetical works will be more specially mentioned hereinafter. His Poetical Works have been arranged by himself in accordance with their subject matter. His prose writings, which are not numerous, consist mainly of introductions to his several poems, a political tract on the "Convention of Cintra," and an admirable paper signed "Mathetes" in Coleridge's Friend. The following poem is the best known of his Lyrical Ballads: WE ARE SEVEN. A simple child, That lightly draws its breath, I met a little cottage girl : She was eight years old, she said; She had a rustic, woodland air, "Sisters and brothers, little maid, "And where are they? I pray you tell." And two are gone to sea; "Two of us in the church-yard lie, "You say that two at Conway dwell, Yet ye are seven? I pray you tell, Then did the little maid reply, "You run about, my little maid, "Their graves are green, they may be seen," The little maid replied: "Twelve steps or more from my mother's door, And they are side by side. "My stockings there I often knit ; "And often after sunset, sir, And eat my supper there. "The first that died was Sister Jane; Till God released her of her pain; "So in the church-yard she was laid; "And when the ground was white with snow, And I could run and slide, My brother John was forced to go, And he lies by her side." "How many are you, then," said I, "If they two are in heaven?" Quick was the little maid's reply: "O Master! we are seven." "But they are dead; those two are dead! In the summer of 1798 Wordsworth, accompanied by his sister, made a tour along the banks of the Wye, and there, a few miles above Tintern Abbey, he composed one of his best poems, the concluding portion of which was directly addressed to his sister. TO HIS SISTER, DOROTHY. I have learned To look on Nature not as in the hour Of thoughtless youth; but hearing oftentimes Not harsh or grating, though of ample power All thinking things, all objects of all thoughts, Therefore am I still Nor perchance, |