William Wordsworth was born in the Lake District in 1770. As a young man, he went to Cambridge University. In 1791, he left Cambridge and went on a walking tour of Europe. In France, the Revolution was beginning to stir. Wordsworth was inspired by its cause of the common man rising up against the monarchy. Whilst there, William fell in love with a French woman called Annette Vallon and she became pregnant. William left her and returned to England before the baby was born.