William Wordsworth: A Life

by Stephen Gill

In this second edition of William Wordsworth: A Life, Stephen Gill draws on knowledge of the poet's creative practices and his reputation and influence in his life-time and beyond. Refusing to treat the poet's later years as of little interest, this biography presents a narrative of the whole of Wordsworth's long life--1770 to 1850--tracing the development from the adventurous youth who alone of the great Romantic poets saw life in revolutionary France to the old man who became Queen Victoria's Poet Laureate.

The various phases of Wordsworth's life are explored with a not uncritical sympathy; the narrative brings out the courage he and his wife and family were called upon to show as they crafted the life they wanted to lead. While the emphasis is on Wordsworth the writer, the personal relationships that nourished his creativity are fully treated, as are the historical circumstances that affected the production of his poetry. Wordsworth, it is widely believed, valued poetic spontaneity. He did, but he also took pains over every detail of the process of publication. The foundation of this second edition of the biography remains, as it was of the first, a conviction that Wordsworth's poetry, which has given pleasure and comfort to generations of readers in the past, will continue to do so in the years to come.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, Poetry, History, 20th Century, British Literature, Romanticism

640 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Stephen Gill is a professor of English literature at Oxford University, a fellow of Lincoln College, and editor of Selected Poems by William Wordsworth

Reviews

[Richard Epstein · Rating 3 out of 5]

The principal problem with biographies of Wordsworth is that they're all about Wordsworth's life. You can't make that interesting. Just can't be done. I prefer Leslie Stephen's William Wordsworth - A Short Biography because, well, it's shorter.

[Brian Willis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Long considered the best biography on Wordsworth, it's hard to disagree. He may be the least fascinating personally of the Romantic poets (although there is plenty for a psychologist to unpack if they read between the lines), but his impact was real. 423 pages for an 80 year life, although it is very easy and acceptable to argue that his significant poetic life ended halfway through. Nonetheless, a balanced and perceptive life account which also, not to be dismissed, is not too harsh on Coleridge as most Wordsworthians tend to be.

I do suspect though that modern sensibilities will see a touch of the misogynistic in his personal life, a man whose sister lived with him unmarried throughout his life, utterly devoted to making his dreams come true, a wife who did the same along with her unmarried sister, and a daughter who married rather late who did the same. It appears Wordsworth loved being doted on by women, which makes it doubly ironic that poor Coleridge could never achieve the same and was indeed thwarted by Wordsworth. Still, a good bio by a leading scholar of Wordsworth.

[Illiterate · Rating 2 out of 5]

Comprehensive. Turgid.

[Adam Tierney-Eliot · Rating 4 out of 5]

If the question is "what is the best biography of William Wordsworth" this would have gotten five stars. Since that isn't the question it gets a still-respectable four stars. It is simply a whole lot of Wordsworth. There are some very interesting descriptions of his creative process as well as plenty of background and context for the poems and the man, himself. After a while, though, one can get lost in all the letters back and forth about who hurt whose feelings--man, these romantics are sensitive...

Still, I enjoyed it. I will keep it and use it as a reference book as I really enjoy reading Wordsworth.