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Although did not always get the recognition that he rightfully deserved in the early part of his career, only through trials and tribulations did he reach the pinnacle of the literary world. “Wordsworth said of “the Prelude” that it was "a thing unprecedented in the literary history that a man should talk so much about himself": " I had nothing to do but describe what I had felt and thought" and " therefore could not easily be bewildered."”(Sinatra, 1) Wordsworth’s innovative concept of nature and his frank exploration of his feelings and philosophical ideas created his own original poetic theory. Asserting himself as a noted figure in the English literary world, his accomplishments are unprecedented through out the world. William born at Cockermouth in the Lake District of Cumberland, England to John and Anne Cookson Wordsworth, on April 7th of 1770. Unfortunately Wordsworth lost his mother at the early age of eight, and the loss of his father five years later made him depend on his uncle for a good education.” Schooling at Hawkshead was followed by matriculation at Cambridge University, where he entered St. John’s college in 1787. Upon Graduation he revisited his beloved France to both learn the language and to develop himself into a man.”(Frank N. Magil et al, 2200) His primary goal was the learn French due to his admiration of French society. “Much besides language, however drew the attention of young Wordsworth, much to the influence of his surroundings, William found himself developing two passions, one for Annete Vallon and the other for the French Revolution.”( Frank N. Magill et al, 2200) “ Both were probably sincere, while they lasted. Shortly after his daughter Anne Caroline was born, but for other reasons he never married her mother Annete. The revolution stirred deep into his soul, changing him forever, to the point that his poems reflect these things. As a poetic spokesman he told of the voice of the common man, and their rights as human beings. “(Frank N. Magil et al, 2200) Returning to England, Wordsworth briefly found congeniality in a circle of other young freethinkers. To his content, they were radical philosophers, one of whom was William Godwin, the author of “Political Justice”. “However this was short lived, soon after William found himself settling in with his talented sister Dorothy Wordsworth. It was during this time, Wordsworth met Samuel Taylor Coleridge who soon would change his life forever. Both men were intellectual free thinkers, and with mutual stimulation and constant companionship they published joint a small volume which would become a milestone in English literature.”( Frank N. Magill et al, 2200-2201) This was the Lyrical Ballads; and although at first it did not receive recognition, it would become sufficiently justified in its second printing in 1800. Lyrical Ballads consisted of pieces from Wordsworth’s “Tinern Abbey” and a group of shorter, ballad like compositions celebrating the common man. In 1803 during a trip to Scotland, the two found a conflict among them, to the result of this their friendship was broken, and too shattered to be ever mended. In 1802 Wordsworth ironically married his childhood friend Mary Hutchinson, she was an inspiration to his success. As Wordsworth grew older, he received many new and wonderful jobs, till his death in 1850 at Rydal Mount. Wordsworth had many works published during the span of his life span, the Lyrical Ballads was the first masterpiece published, after 1807 however he came out with several poems published separately. These were “Ode to Intimations of Immortality”, “Ode to duty”, and “Resolution and Independence”. His last set of Masterpieces were the Preludes, these books consisted of 14 books, that contains some of the most wonderful poems ever existed. For these accomplishments Wordsworth received honors of being known as an innovator of romantic poetry, and his skills as a writer made his poems flow like water, and breeze like wind. For all of Wordsworth’s accomplishments, many critics have written about his work, they cherish his writing as much as he did himself. Wordsworth was one of a kind, he was in a world of his own. No one at the time perhaps expect Byron matched his genius. This Critic is Henry Reed, he put his efforts into the poem “Intimations of Immortality”, one of the best known poems written by Wordsworth. “It is for every one who takes thought of the deep things of his nature, the mysteries of his being, memories of early innocence and yearning for eternity, that Wordsworth struck his lofty lyric the most sublime ode in this and, perhaps, and language, on the birth-the life-the undying destiny of the soul of man.”(Tucker, 185) -Henry Reed, 1850-55, Lectures on English literature. From Chaucer to Tennyson, p.33 What Reed is saying here is that in the poem “ Intimation of Immortality”, Wordsworth’s use of nature mixed with his emotions and his undying yearn of eternity, has made this poem touch the soul of a man. “Ode to Intimations of Immortality” tells a tale of nature and how it affects a person’s well being and emotions, Wordsworth writes, “Now, while the birds thus sing a joyous song, and while the young lambs bound. As to the tabor’s sound, To me alone there came a thought of grief: A timely utterance gave that thought relief, and I again am strong.” This strongly supports what Reed said, where by it seems that the mood of the writer changed as his surroundings changed, whether for good or bad. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow another poet who absolutely loves the works of Byron, gives the honor of comparing Wordsworth’s work to that of Byrons. “Next to Byron, there is no poet whose writings have had so much influence on the taste of age as Wordsworth. Byron drove on through the upper air till the thunder of his wheels died on the ear. Wordsworth drove to Parnassus by the lower road, got sometimes lost in the bushes and lowland fogs, and was much molested by mosquito critics.”(Tucker, 196) Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1829, Note book, Life by S.Longfellow vol. I, p.172 Longfellow compared the works of Wordsworth to Lord Byron, perhaps the most accomplished English writer of that time. His works included Fugitive Pieces, a collection of his early poetry. In Byron’s work many emotions are displayed, and compared to Wordsworth, they were much similar to the fact that Wordsworth’s fascination to his loves affected the way his poems came to be. Longfellow also mentioned that Byron was traveling on top, while Wordsworth worked through hardships to succeed but ultimately both ended up where they deserved to be, at the top of the literary world. This is a letter written by Wordsworth himself to Lady Beaumont, it seems to criticize his own work, this is a true judgement upon him. “Troubled not yourself about their present reception; of what moment is that compared with what I trust is their destiny? To console the afflicted; to add sunshine to daylight, by making the happy happier; to teach the young , and the gracious of every age, to see, to think, and feel, and therefore to become more actively and securely virtuous-this is their office, which I trust they will faithfully perform, long after we (that is, all that is mortal of us) are mouldered in our graves.”(Tucker, 193) William Wordsworth, 1807, Letter to Lady Beaumont, May 21; Knights’s Life of Wordsworth, vol. II, p. 88 This is part of a letter sent to Lady Beaumont from William Wordsworth, This is a personal criticism, and therefore, is the most honest of them all. He describes the goals he seeks in his writing to which, he wants to console the afflicted, to add sunshine to daylight, by making the happy happier, to teach the young, and so on. He wants to make people happy and resolve conflicts with his work. This very important due to his style of writing, Romanticism is about emphasizing freedom and emotions, to which will “cure” illness of the world. James Hogg, regards Wordsworth’s work second to none, comparing it with the all time masterpieces of the literary world. “I have only a single remark to make on the poetry of Wordsworth, and I do it because I never saw the remark made before. It relates to the richness of his works for quotations. For these they are a mine that is altogether inexhaustible. There is nothing in nature that you may not get a quotation out of Wordsworth to suit and a quotation too that breathes the very soul of poetry. There are only three books in the world that are worth the opening in search of mottoes and quotations, and all of them are alike rich. These are, the Old Testament, Shakespeare, and the poetical works of Wordsworth, and strange to say, The Excursion of abounds most in them.”(Tucker, 197) James Hogg, 1832, Autobiography The man James Hogg, speaks of the incredible quotation work Wordsworth uses in his poetry, to him there is noting in nature that can compare with this. E.g., “On Kilve’s smooth shore, by the green sea, or here at Liswyn farm”(Anecdote for Fathers) To Hogges other than the poetic work of Wordsworth, only the Old Testament and Shakespeare can even compare with them, in effect he thinks it is better than them. This is perhaps an uttermost flattering criticism anyone can ever make, comparing your work to the work of God. William Ellery Channing a fellow writer address Wordsworth’s poetry as both poetic and articulate masterpieces, for his works are like a fine piece of art. “Genius is not a creator, in the sense of fancying or feigning what does not exist. Its distinction is, to discern more of truth than common minds. It sees under disguises and humble forms everlasting beauty. This it is the prerogative of Wordsworth to discern and reveal in the walks of life, in the common human heart. He has revealed the loveliness of the primitive which pervades his poetry is that the beautiful is not confined-the rare, the new, the distant,-to scenery and modes of life open only to the few; gleams from the loneliest flower, that it lights up the humblest sphere, that and loveliness in lives which few eyes rest on, -that, even in the absence of intellectual culture, the domestic relations can quietly nourish that disinterestedness which is element of all greatness, and without which intellectual power is splendid deformity. Wordsworth is poet of humanity; he teaches reverence for our universal nature; he breaks down the fictitious barriers between human hearts.”(Tucker, 197) William Ellery Channing, 1841, The Present Age, Addresses Channing calls Wordsworth a genius, in the sense that Wordsworth creates everlasting beauty with his poetry. That in the poems, the essence of human existence and the door to the human heart is opened. Wordsworth’s works are able to many diverse things; it can give life to the loneliest flower, to give love to the people that no one cares about. Channing speaks that Wordsworth’s works are poems of humanity; he is able to win the reverence of our hearts and universe, and break down barriers between human hearts. Bagehot, regards the works of Wordsworth as exciting and innovative to read, he enjoys them like fine classical art. “To Wordsworth has been vouchsafed the last grace of the self-denying artist: you think neither of him nor his style, but you cannot help thinking of- you must recall-the exact phrase, the very sentiment he wished. Milton’s purity is more eager. In the most exciting parts of Wordsworth-and these sonnets are not very exciting-you always feel, you never forget, that what you have before you is the excitement of a recluse. There is nothing of the stir of life; nothing of the brawl of the world.”(Tucker, 191) Walter Bagehot, 1864, “Wordsworth, Tennyson and Browning,” Works, ed. Morgan, vol. I, p218 Bagehot thinks the Sonnets of Wordsworth as beautiful artwork, that is very exciting to read. Whether it’s the style or the content, it is very arousing to the reader. There's nothing that can compare with them, says Bagehot. The poem seems to take place in a beautiful valley full of meadows, groves, and streams. This is a perfect description of nature and how it is supposed to be. The main idea of this whole poem is that Wordsworth tries to find the true “essence of man” and his place in this world created by God. How man fits into nature is his whole purpose of writing this poem. The speaker is Wordsworth himself; he rises above his own mortality and uses the natural workings of time to find a deeper understanding of how he truly fits in the world. Wordsworth emphasizes on the innocence of early childhood, and deals with death in a very positive way. In this poem Wordsworth says that humans are just playing a role in God’s stage, and as if our whole existence is in imitation without true conscious thought.  -This is an ode, “ode on Intimations of Immortality” Wordsworth likes to play with rhyming in this poem, it seems his rhyme scheme changes very often, from alternate rhyming to direct rhyming. The poet uses both consonance and assonance at the end of each sentence to give it rhyme with the previous sentences. Wordsworth seems to rarely use alliterations in the poem, I only saw a few lines with that. An example of alliteration in this poem was “A wedding or a festival, a mourning or a funeral”. Onomatopoeia is beautifully used in this poem, he uses words of nature to make the poem more visual. The poet uses many visual imagery in this poem, especially when it comes to the description of the scenery, he uses nature as a symbol for God’s creation and man’s stage. “The Rainbow comes and goes, and lovely is the Rose, The moon doth with delight look round her when the heavens are bare” The poet uses different words to create the surrounding in his poem. Words like “ celestial”, “glory”, “joyous”, “immensity” all give a strong effect towards nature. The poet uses nature to describe what the life of a man is like, he uses childhood and death as metaphors for the stage of man in this world. The poem is all true the poet does not use hyperbole,. I think this poem describes human life very beautifully, the existence of man and his purpose is expressed in the way of nature, birth and death. I liked this poem because it was easy to understand and the different words the poet uses personifies the poem. This poem takes place in a grove in splendid nature on a spring morning, when the thoughts of the poet are clear, and all the sorrows of yesterday are already forgotten. The speaker is the poet himself, and he seems to be describing his surrounding. The poet describes his surrounding nature as very beautiful. He seems to be very happy, and his emotions are perfectly in balance with nature. This is an alternate rhyming poem, assonance is used for all the rhyming purposes, and some words like “breezy” to describe air gives it a little more zing. The words in the poem create an image of a meadow or a grove as he describes it, with beautiful atmosphere, it paints a picture of what nature is suppose to be like in spring, breezing yet not cold and very calm. Words like pleasant, periwinkle, breezy, holy plan, all gives an intention of god’s creations here. It seems that Wordsworth feels his poems with words of majesty. The poem uses a combination of metaphors and personification to prop up nature to a celestial heaven, this is the way Wordsworth writes his poetry, in that he likes to make nature more beautiful than it really is. I think this poem was short and concise, it was enough to describe the subject matter, I liked it because I understood it very well. The poets use of words and the rhyming scheme is very good. This poem takes place in a house perhaps, the exact setting is not shown clearly, but the feeling is that it’s in a warm home where kids are. The poem is about some children without a mother. The mother went away for one month now. The speaker seems to be a narrator of some sort, it seems as if he has nothing to do with the poem here, but in one line it says “ They hug the infant in my arms”, it clearly says perhaps the speaker is the father of these children. The poem is about the importance of a mother’s presence to children  This is a narrative poem that tells a story The poet creates a image of a broken up home where the mother is missing and the kids are all very sad, the image is both visual and auditory where the little boy shouted for his mother to come back. The poet uses words like sympathy to make the reader feel sorry for the kids who are dying to get their mother back. The words also give the presence of sorrow among the kids. Some of these words are “strife”, “glee”, “bower”, and “discourse”. The poem essentially can be a metaphor, as the sorrows these kids feel can be the effects a missing leader from a country, such as in the French revolution where the King was an Oaf, and no mother figure was present in the country. This poem was essentially very easy to understand, but as I thought about it more and more, it seems to fill more than it really says. Wordsworth was very passionate about the French Revolution and since at that time speaking out on this subject could have gotten him killed, he used a poem to describe his feelings towards it. The title mean a small green bird, to this adds a deeper meaning in the poem itself. Wordsworth so commonly uses the beauty of nature and his own emotions to describe what he views of the world around him. The speaker of this poem is Wordsworth himself, as he sits upon spring like weather in May. He enjoys life, he enjoys God’s creation for himself. He takes total advantage of nature, by absorbing all the good things in life and rebelling against the evils of the world. It seems that he is very happy here, around splendid scenery. With birds chirping, and the trees twinkle with the warm breeze.  This is a ode yet it is also a narrative poem that tells t he story of nature. The rhyme scheme like “Intimations of Immortality” is very diverse, it jumps around alternate and direct rhyming schemes. This poem paints a picture of a perfect day in the middle of spring, like many of Wordsworth’s other poems he emphasizes his emotions on to his surrounding nature. He uses a lot of words to personify nature to become a living object, as if all of nature comes to life to form a beautiful and perfect dream world where man can be absolutely happy. “While bird, and butterflies, and flowers, make all one band of paramours” Wordsworth metaphorically uses nature to express his own feelings and emotions, he personifies the nature around him to life. I enjoyed reading this poem, it felt like I was actually there among the trees and birds. Wordsworth again turns words majestically into a picture, when I’m reading it really feels like I can actually experience the wind blowing through my hair, and listening to the different overtures the birds play. This poem is very short yet it has a very deep meaning behind it. From the life of Wordsworth, he has done few things that he regretted. One of them was to leave his love and his daughter in France after the French Revolution, and the other was to quarrel with his dear friend, Samuel Taylor Coleridge. These he felt very guilty for, in this poem the speaker is himself. He is explaining for his guiltiness and wants God’s forgiveness. That God will come again for him.  This is a Sonnet with 14 lines. He uses alternate rhyming scheme with assonance. They produce a poem that able to be read with a certain beat. There doesn’t seem to be many visual devices but it makes it feel like it is a place of gloominess and it seems dark. The poet uses words like “ worst” “fear” “vain” “weary” to explain what he felt when he was writing this poem. He uses hyperbole to exaggerate his surroundings to become gloomier. His situation couldn’t have been as bad as he mentioned, through out his life he never suffered any physical hardships, these were with his mind and his heart, therefore using hyperbole makes these seems painful outside as well. I disliked this poem because I think it is sad and unlike the other works of Wordsworth leaves the reader unfulfilled at the end. I think it is too gloomy and it only exploits the dark side of man. William Wordsworth the greatest, an all time great Romantic Poet has left an lasting impression in my mind, with his writing. Affecting the way I think and see things in the world. His depiction of nature adds rippling effects to minds young or old, the way he puts emotion into every word makes a person think of how deep of a person Wordsworth really was. William Wordsworth truly revolutionized both the Literary and artistic worlds. Bibliography:  Drabble. The oxford companion in English Literature. Margaret and Oxford Press, 1985.  Kunitz and Haycraft. British Authors of the 19th Century. H.W. Wilson Company, 1964.  Magill, Frank N. Cyclopedia of World Authors. Salem Press, 1958-1997.  Tucker, Martin. Moulton’s library of Literature Criticism Vol. 2. Fredrick Lugor Publisher/co., 1966.  Discovering Authors.  http://www.newi.ac.uk/rdover/words/welcome.htm#Poetry  gopher://ftp.std.com/11/obi/book/William.Wordsworth Word Count: 3639
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