Wordsworth and the Lake District: A Guide to the Poems and Their Places

by David McCracken

Since the early nineteenth century, when it first became a popular destination for travellers, the visitor's perception of the Lake District has been irresistibly affected by the presence and writing of William Wordsworth. His birthplace at Cockermouth and his later homes, Dove Cottage and Rydal Mount, are faithfully preserved, and the places named throughout his poetry--Grasmere, Skiddaw, Dungeon Ghyll Force, the River Duddon--are visited by thousands every year. No other great poet has so decisively influenced our consciousness of an English place; no other has written so extensively and fruitfully about a particular landscape.

Much of Wordsworth's poetry grew out of specific sights or incidents in teh area, and his mind was formed in crucial ways by images of its mountains and lakes. From a variety of soources, including notes which Wordsworth dictated in the last years of his life, David McCracken has established, often for the first time, the connections between the poems and the places.

The book contains not only numerous contemporary illustrations but also sixteen newly drawn maps and detailed walking guides, which allow the traveller--armchair or otherwise--to follow closely in Wordsworth's footsteps through some of the most beautiful country in Britain.

Genres: Travel

300 pages, Paperback

First published June 28, 1984

Reviews

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wordsworth has affected our perceptions of the Lake District, even when we’re not aware of it. He lived most of his life there, a place he loved more than any other, and it is there that much of his poetry is set. His poems often feature an encounter that occurs in a particular place - and that place was often a specific locale in the Lakes.

This gem of a book, published by Oxford University Press, explores the connections between the poetry and places, reproducing bits of poems and whole poems and excerpts from Wordsworth’s prose. It was enriching to read much of this book while I was in the Lakes last month. It’s done really well, by someone who has deep knowledge of the poet and his poems, and of the Lakes. For me it enhanced my appreciation of the poems and the places.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really accessible, very readable book that talks about Wordsworth poetry and the places he had direct links to. The great thing is it includes poems that are lesser known. It gives some history of William and of the areas of the Lakes that it mentions. Overall it is a really interesting read; and it is great if you are a keen walker, as there are maps of routes you can walk to try to trace where William probably walked. I don't know how easy this book is to get hold of (it was first published in 1984), I got my copy from a second hand book shop while staying in Keswick! I would really recommend getting a copy if you can.