自考《英美文学选读》笔记2（简单版）
William Wordsworth （1770-1850）
1770 He was born in the family of an attorney. He was educated at St. John's College， Cambridge.
1790-92He traveled to France and sensed the filthiness of the French Revolution
（Slogan "liberty， fraternity， and equality"）。 He saw that Jacobite took the power from Gironde， who was radical. Lewis XIIII was killed. He became conservative in politics.
1795 A gentleman friend gave him some money that enabled him to live in Great Lake with his sister Dorothy who never got married and live with William Wordsworth of all her life.
1798 The beginning of the Romantic period. He lived by the riverside with his sister writing poems for 8 years.
1813 Wordsworth received a sinecure as a distributor.
1843 He succeeded Southey as Poet Laureate.
William Wordsworth is the best-known and oldest poet among the Lake Poet.
3 groups of his poetry
1. Simple， rural folk： wrote when he lived in Great Lake district.
e.g. "Lucy Poem"： full of innocence and simpleness.
2. Childhood： beautiful and instructive.
e.g. "We are seven"， a short poem in the form of a dialogue between the poet and a 8-year-old girl. The poem reveals Wordsworth's philosophy of pre-existence of soul. The girl is too innocent to recognize death.
"Ode： Intimations and Immortality"， explains his philosophy of pr-existence， explains the from childhood to manhood.
3. Nature - the most important part
About animals， plants， emotions.
e.g. "To a butterfly"， "To a skylark"，
"My heart leaps up"， expresses the joy of seeing rainbow.
The major works of William Wordsworth.
Tintern Abby， it combines his feelings as worship of nature， with his impression gathered during his second visit. In this poem， Wordsworth reveals his innermost thoughts and emotions with regard to the natural world.
The Prelude， （1805） contains 14 books. His autobiographical poem. The first 8 books tell about his early life. The last 6 books tell about his growing maturity. Importance of the poem： it's a heart-pouring expression of Wordsworth's own spiritual development.
The Preface， （1800） added to the Lyrical Ballads （1798）。 It brought success to Lyrical Ballads. Importance： it's a piece of literary criticism which shows Wordsworth's theory of poetry writing.
1. Theme of poetry： incidents and situations chosen from common life.
2. Language： really used by common people.
3. Ordinary things are to be presented in an unusual way. （"We are seven"）
4. Trace the primary laws of human nature.
Why Lyrical Ballads is a landmark in English poetry？
1. It's a collaboration of Wordsworth and Coleridge. （who are the major representatives of the Romantic Movement.）
2. In the book， they explored new theories and innovated new technologies in poetry writing. （New： break away with traditional writing sty
