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He was born on April 7th in 1770 in Lake District. William Wordsworth came to be known as the poet responsible for the birth of romanticism.
His mother died when he was only 8 years old. His father John Wordsworth, soon decided that raising a family consisting of 5 children alone was too hard, so he sent the 3 male children away to school. Williams father died in 1783.
After his fathers death his uncles had hoped to use what little inheritance there was to put William through school so that he might have a successful career to provide for himself. But Wordsworth refused to apply himself, and graduated with poor grades in 1791.
Then he discovered the talent that would bring him his current fame: writing.
Wordsworth decided he wanted to travel and teach. So, he made a trip to France, and in the process began to support the French Revolution. Unfortunately he was unable to stay, and was forced to return to England.
In 1795, he received a sum of 900 pounds from a friend that died of tuberculosis. This cash sum was left to Wordsworth in hopes that he would devote his time to writing, namely poetry. So, he did.
At first, he spent time with a man, Coleridge, and they wrote together, debated their notions on writing, and even tried to co-write together on several occasions. Finally, in 1798, "Lyrical Ballads" was published. Several other versions of this book were published later that attempted to better explain the work, and improve people's outlook on the book
In 1802, Wordsworth married Mary Hutchinson. William and his wife had a child the following year. This would be the first of five children for the couple. In 1805, Wordsworth completed what is considered one of his greatest works, but it was not to be published until 1850. However, in 1806, "Poems, in Two Volumes" was in the process of being published.
Several other poems were published in the following years, but none granted him any success until 1935, when he wrote, "Extempore Effusion of the Death of James Hogg," which is said to be his greatest poem of all.
Later in life, Wordsworth received several great honors which some may find quite surprising due to the fact he didn't write as much as other poets. He was given an honorary Doctorate in Civil Law by Oxford University, and was named Poet Laureate in 1843. When Wordsworth died in 1850, he was considered by many to be one of the greatest poets in the world, and some still feel this way today
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