The World of William Wordsworth

When our son toured the Lake District of England in 1997 he said he thought it was as beautiful as Switzerland.  I wasn’t sure I could agree with that until I experienced it myself. It does indeed have a remarkable gentle beauty that can not be matched by anything I have ever seen.  The romantic poet William Wordsworth (1770-1850) was inspired by the beauty and one of my favorite poems by him was one I chose to read to my class when I was in 6th grade.  I will only quote the opening stanza.

I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o’er vales and hills

When all at once I saw

A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze

We visited both homes of Wordsworth, Dove Cottage in Grasmere and Rydal Mount a few miles outside of Grasmere. Dove Cottage was small and dark and they were burning a coal fire while we were there which made me feel a bit nauseated.  I liked the look of the cottage from the outside but would have been claustrophobic if I had had to live there.  Yet Wordsworth wrote much of his important poetry in that small place.

On the other hand Rydal Mount was bright and large and there were only two other people visiting the house when I was there.  Hack chose to walk other places and didn’t go inside.  After seeing the house I then had the side yard and garden all to myself. Wordsworth and his family lived here in his later years.  When his daughter died after being ill most of her life, Wordsworth who was 77 at the time along with his wife Mary planted a meadow of daffodils in her memory.  The field has regenerated itself over the years and can still be seen today in the spring with all its splendor.  

The back of Dove Cottage.

Beauty outside the window at Dove Cottage.

Rydal Mount, the second house of William, his wife
Mary and sister Dorothy

Bouquet of flowers in living room of Rydal Mount.

A view from an upstairs bedroom window at Rydal Mount.

The story of Wordsworth's daughter.  

Old needlework in one of the bedrooms.

Flowers in a side garden

A view of Rydal Mount from the lower lawn.

Stone building on lower lawn.

A lower patio at Rydal Mount with a view of Lake Windermere.

The hills above Lake Windermere where William Wordsworth wandered and found inspiration.