In this series, a contemporary poet selects and introduces a poet of the past, focusing on their nature poetry. By their choice of poems and by the personal and critical reactions they express in their prefaces, the editors offer insights into their own work as well as providing an accessible and passionate introduction to the most important poets in our literature.
Earth has not anything to show more fair:
Dull would he be of soul who could pass by
A sight so touching in its majesty . . .
– Composed Upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802
William Wordsworth (1770-1850) was born in Cockermouth, Cumberland. In 1798 he published the Lyrical Ballads with Coleridge, settling shortly after in Dove Cottage, Grasmere with his sister, Dorothy. He died at Rydal Mount in 1850, shortly before the posthumous publication of that landmark of English Romanticism, The Prelude.