IN different times he would have been seen as a reactionary rogue, a working class champion. It was a far cry from the pastoral bliss of daffodils, Dove Cottage and Dorothy his beloved sister write Maurice Chesworth.
William Wordsworth was born 250 years ago this month (April). Celebrations planned in his Cockermouth birthplace and Grasmere were postponed because of the coronavirus lockdown.
But marking the milestone of England’s most influential poet is a new book Well Kept Secrets. The story of William Wordsworth.
The author, sculptor and artist Andrew Wordsworth was the great great great grandson of William’s younger brother Christopher.
He doesn’t hesitate to describe faithfully his illustrious ancestor’s complex and aloof personality, his success as well as his shortcomings.
It was during a visit to France that he fell in love with Annette Valon who was four years older than him. She became pregnant and had a daughter Caroline. But William dumped her and returned to England.
In his earlier years in what was then Westmorland his father John, a lawyer, worked for Sir James Lowther, later the first Earl of Lonsdale. They were involved in a complex legal battle over debts William’s father said were due to him.
It is perhaps why as a young man he became such a radical, fighting against politicians and the aristocracy. Later however, Wordsworth became progressively conservative and nationalistic, abandoning earlier liberal ideals.
The author feels this was for his need of a steady life and tradition and as a reaction to the many upheavals in his early years – orphaned as a young child and growing up separated from his brothers and sisters. He didn’t see Dorothy for nine years.
It was an early introduction to the family lineage for Andrew Wordsworth. He was six years old when his great aunt gave him a small chest belonging to the poet.
It was wood, covered in sheepskin and embossed with brass studs. On the lid the letter W. It was made by T Shaw jun. of Kendal.
Says Andrew: “When open the chest gives off a musty smell that no amount of cleaning will dislodge and which evokes the tenacious cold and damp of English country houses. The chest became my talisman. I placed it next to my bed and have had it in my bedroom wherever I have lived ever since.”
The book reflects on the poets increasing isolation in the Lake District surrounded by his close family circle – the harem as Coleridge called it – his sister Dorothy his constant companion and later wife Mary and his daughters.
Tragically Dorothy suffered mental illness for the last 20 years of her life.
The author says this lack of interest in the outside world and its progress was perhaps one of the causes stemming the flow of his creativity, which however, would change the courses of English poetry forever.
- Well Kept Secrets. The Story of William Wordsworth by Andrew Wordsworth. Published by Pallas Athene Books. Price £24 95p.
