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Alessia Mamone
William Wordsworth (1770-1850)
Life
➛Born in the Lake District
➛lost both parents at an early age; thanks to his uncles he could continue his studies
➛1790: went on a walking tour to the Alps and Italy, became a supporter of the
French Revolution and fell in love with Annette Vallon
➛1795: went to live with his sister in Dorset, close to where his friend Coleridge
lived
➛married Mary Hutchinson in 1801; became Poet Laureate in 1841
Lyrical ballads
➛Written by Wordsworth and Coleridge
➛First edition: 1798; second edition: 1800 (with a Preface by Wordsworth – the
manifesto of English Romanticism)
➛The first edition includes 19 poems by Wordsworth and 4 by Coleridge; among
those, «The Rime of the Ancient Mariner»
➛Why «lyrical»? Because it is based on autobiographical experience
➛«A lyrical ballad is traditional verse poetry that uses consistent rhythm and meter,
rhyme, and the language of common speech to convey and arouse emotions while
treating the topics of everyday life»
➛Wordsworth stated that «poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings»
and «takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquillity»
Daffodils
➛written between 1804 and 1807 and first published in 1807 in Poems in Two
Volumes
➛4 stanzas with 6 lines each (total: 24 lines)
➛rhyme scheme: ABABCC
