Richland beacon., 1880-08-21
BIOGRAPHY.
william Words,~orfh.

William WOrdstrorfh.
This celebrated poet was born the 18th
If April. ITO, in Cumberland county,
England. and was educated at st. Johns
College, Cambridge, where he was not
remarkable for proficiency in his col
lege curriculum, but was diligent stu
dent after his fashion, devoting himself
to those branches which were most con-
genial to his poetic tastes. He succeed
ed, however, in obtaining the degree of
A B., and possibly A. NJ. In 1871 he
left Cambridge and spent some time in
France. and, while there, imbibed the
religious and political sentiments of the
French; though he ultimately aban-
doned his republicanism and skepticism
and became conservative both in poll
ties and religion.
His first published poem was entitled
IAN Evening Walk ;" his second, ode
scriptive Sketches of Tour Among the
Alps" These two poems reveal admir-
able powers of observation and descrip-
ton, but failed to make an impression
on the popular mind. He had some de-
voted admirers thus: Coleridge OBJ
served in the above poems the germs Of
extraordinary genius, and so did De-
Quincy. There was also another admir-
er of Wordsworth's poetry-one as con-
slant and unfailing as he was profound
and reverential-it was Wordsworth
himself. No man was ever more sub
timely self-appreciative than Words
worth. Though he was for long time
the laughing stock of the reviewers, es-
pecially Of Jeoffrey, of the Edinburgh
Reriew, he did not suffer himself to he
disheartened by the jeers of the critics,
or the Indifference of the reading world.
He adhered to the opinion that he was
poet-the poet of the day. Per exam
pie, no held that the fine passages of
Byron's, particularly the third canto o
"Childe Harold, were substantially sto,
en- from his poem entitled "Pintern Alb
bey." He contended that the only diff
ference between him and Byron
was, that what had been naturally
and finely expressed by him
had been worked up into sort of la
bored antithetical defamation by By
ron. But the critics of the world dill
not agree with the egotist. Byron's
poems sold with great rapidity, while
Wordsworth would have starved for
bread had not friend died and left him
a legacy of $500. The lucky poet made
the most of his money, and the most of
his time, and it soon began t. be con-
coded that, while his. poems had great
faults, they were possessed of remark.
able merits. They combined the charm
ing simplicity of Cowper and Burns
with depth of philosophical reasoning
peculiarly his own. In his Lyrical Bal
lads" and the Excursion" Mr.. Words
worth appears to Macaulay as "high
priest, for the worship of whom nature
was the idol. No poems have ever in
dicated so exquisite perception of the
beauty of the outer world, or so pas
sionate a love and reverence for that
beauty. and yet" sand he, "they are
not popular, nor will they ever be as
popular as the works of Scott. The
feelings which pervade them are too
deep, his passionate love for nature is
too strong for popular sympathy"
Mr.. Hazlett pronounced Wordsworth
the "most original of poets. Unlike
Scott, his poetry is not external but in
ternal he produces it from his own
mind. He has produced deeper i'm
preston, but on a smaller scale, than
any of his contemporaries.
"The Excursion" Lyrical Ballads"
"Peter Bell" "The Wagner, and
"Sonnets on the River Duddon," are his
principal works.
1t was often complained that Words
worth's subjects were too trite and famil-
lar, but he contended to the last that
the art of fine poetic writing consisted
i'll using common subjects, and making
from them fine poems.
He had an invincible spirit and over
came all obstacles. Many of his poems
are largely read at the present day