Photo: Wordsworth Trust
In my last post, I mentioned some of the leading figures in English Literature that had a close association with the Lake District.
One of these was William Wordsworth who was born and lived in the Lake District.
He was a Romantic poet who lived in the late18th to early 19th century and was instrumental in launching the Romantic movement in English Literature. He was Britain's Poet Laureate between 1843 until his death in 1850. You can read more about him here.
Dove Cottage
Whilst on holiday last week, we visited Dove Cottage in Grasmere.
William Wordsworth lived here for nine years (1799 - 1808) and it is where he wrote some of his greatest poetry.
His most famous poem, Daffodils was written during this period. This poem is one of the most famous poems of the English Language and is taught to schoolchildren throughout the UK and beyond.
I would like to share it here with you.
I wandered lonely as a Cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and Hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden Daffodils;
Beside the Lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:-
A Poet could not but be gay
In such a jocund company:
I gazed---and gazed---but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:
For oft when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude,
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the Daffodils.
It was a real privilege to visit the cottage and to see the surrounding countryside that so inspired William Wordsworth.
Ciao for now
Shanthi
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