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2 2 'They all love you! They are obsessed with you! And look at yourself; what have you done to deserve such adulation?' William Wordsworth: poetic genius or irresponsible egotist? This world premiere production explores the man behind the myth. It's 1812 and all is not well in the Wordsworth household. Money is tight, the children are getting sick, and the wild and unpredictable Samuel Coleridge is stirring up trouble in London. But much to his sister Dorothy's dismay, rather than penning his next poem and providing for his family, Wordsworth's priorities seem to lie with repairing his relationship with Coleridge and currying favour with London's elite. With no money coming in, the daily dilemma of having freedom to pursue his art while also providing for his family is starting to reach breaking point. William Wordsworth is a co-production with English Touring Theatre, one of the UK s most successful and exciting production companies, widely regarded as England s National Theatre of Touring. Clockwise from top left: Amiera Darwish, John Sackville, Richard Evans with Joseph Mydell, Michael Oakley, and Daniel Abelson. Photos by Mark Douet

3 3 William Wordsworth is perhaps the best-known English-language poet in the world. His poem I wandered lonely as a cloud (also known as Daffodils) is universally known and loved. Wordsworth was born in 1770 and by the time of his death in 1850 he had produced some of English poetry s greatest works. He also influenced future generations of poets. For most of his life Wordsworth lived in the Lake District. He was born in Cockermouth, educated at Hawkshead Grammar school and spent much of his adult life in Grasmere and Rydal, right in the heart of the Lake District. He died at Rydal Mount in 1850, and is buried, with his family, in Grasmere churchyard. He witnessed great social, political and artistic change. His experiences and attitudes are reflected not only in his poetry, but also in letters and prose works. William Wordsworth by Henry Edridge, 1806 By permission of the Wordsworth Trust, Grasmere Place and family were also important to Wordsworth. This is clear from his abiding love of the Lake District and settled domestic life, celebrated in poems such as Home at Grasmere. Home At Grasmere In Wordsworth s longer poem The Recluse, the first book deals with his feelings of Grasmere as home. Here is a small section: Embrace me then, ye Hills, and close me in; Now in the clear and open day I feel Your guardianship; I take it to my heart; 'Tis like the solemn shelter of the night. But I would call thee beautiful, for mild, And soft, and gay, and beautiful thou art Dear Valley, having in thy face a smile Though peaceful, full of gladness. Thou art pleased, Pleased with thy crags and woody steeps, thy Lake, Its one green island and its winding shores; The multitude of little rocky hills, Thy Church and cottages of mountain stone Clustered like stars some few, but single most, And lurking dimly in their shy retreats, Or glancing at each other cheerful looks Like separated stars with clouds between. What want we? have we not perpetual streams, Warm woods, and sunny hills, and fresh green fields,

4 4 And mountains not less green, and flocks and herds, And thickets full of songsters, and the voice Of lordly birds, an unexpected sound Heard now and then from morn to latest eve, Admonishing the man who walks below Of solitude and silence in the sky? ACTIVITY: WRITE Think about a place that makes you feel comfortable and calm. Write a description of how the sights, sounds, touch and smell of the place perform their magic upon you. If you like, turn it into a poem. Wordsworth uses ten syllables per line here, but no rhymes. It s called decasyllabic blank verse, a form which Wordsworth loved to use in his narrative and reflective poetry. It s up to you how you compose your piece. Dove Cottage, where Wordsworth lived in Grasmere, c. 1810; believed to have been made by Amos Green while the Wordsworths were living there. By permission of the Wordsworth Trust, Grasmere

5 April: William Wordsworth (WW) is born in Cockermouth. He has one elder brother, Richard, and later his sister Dorothy (DW) and two younger brothers, John and Christopher, are born WW attends Mrs. Anne Birkett s Dame School in Penrith His mother dies and the following year he is sent with his brother Richard to Hawkshead Grammar School, where he lodges with Hugh and Anne Tyson WW s father dies October: WW goes to St. John s College at Cambridge University WW is in France during this time, where he becomes involved in revolutionary politics. He also falls in love with Annette Vallon in Orléans. He returns to England before the birth of their daughter Caroline in December January: WW publishes his first book of poems entitled An Evening Walk and Descriptive Sketches. He writes Letter to the Bishop of Llandaf April: WW and his sister DW stay at Windy Brow, near Keswick, the home of William and Mary Calvert January: WW s friend Raisley Calvert dies and leaves him 900. September: WW and DW set up home at Racedown in Dorset. WW meets Samuel Taylor Coleridge (STC) and their friendship begins July: WW and DW move to Alfoxden in Somerset to be nearer STC. WW completes his play The Borderers July: WW and DW visit Tintern Abbey. WW writes Tintern Abbey, which is added to Lyrical Ballads. September: the first edition of Lyrical Ballads is published. WW and DW travel with STC to Germany. They separate and WW and DW spend the winter in Goslar. WW begins what becomes Books I and II of The Prelude December: WW and DW move into Dove Cottage, Grasmere. Between 1799 and 1808, WW writes many of his most famous poems including Michael, Composed upon Westminster Bridge, Daffodils and Ode: Intimations of Immortality January: the second edition of Lyrical Ballads is published, dated August: WW and DW visit Annette and Caroline in France. 4 October: WW marries Mary Hutchinson (MH). They have five children between 1803 and 1810, John, Dora,Thomas, Catherine and William August: DW and WW go on a tour of Scotland and visit Sir Walter Scott WW completes the 13 book Prelude. February: WW s brother John is drowned in a shipwreck off Weymouth May: the family moves to Allan Bank, Grasmere WW writes much of The Excursion. The following year, WW s Guide through the District of the Lakes was published May: the family move to the Rectory, Grasmere WW s daughter, Catherine, aged three, and his son Thomas, aged six, both die April: WW becomes Distributor of Stamps for Westmorland. May: the family move to Rydal Mount May: WW writes a series of sonnets to The River Duddon WW revises The Prelude for the last time WW becomes Poet Laureate April: WW dies. He is buried in Grasmere churchyard. The final version of The Prelude is published after his death.

6 6 Act: William Wordsworth by Nicholas Pierpan, premiered at Theatre by the Lake, Easter 2017, explores the life-changing year of Pick a year from the timeline Write a conversation between William and either Dorothy, Mary or Coleridge where they talk about the past and their hopes for the future Perform it to the class Research: find out more details about a small part of the timeline: What was William writing? What was happening in his life? What was happening in England and the wider world? Which other poets, novelists and playwrights were at work and what were they creating? Present your findings to the class Discuss: in groups, rearrange the events below into the correct order He was educated at Hawkshead Grammar school By the time of his death in 1850 he had produced some of English poetry s greatest works and influenced future generations of poets Most of his life was spent in the Lake District The poet William Wordsworth was born in He died at Rydal Mount in 1850, and is buried, with his family, in Grasmere churchyard He spent much of his adult life in Grasmere and Rydal, right in the heart of the Lake District He was born in Cockermouth (a town in the northern Lake District) He went to Cambridge University and later moved to France Write: can you rewrite the events as a paragraph, but in a more interesting way? You could use a variety of sentences: simple, compound and complex You could write this up as an article for a newspaper or as an imagined interview

7 7 Nature, in all its forms, was important to Wordsworth, but he rarely uses simple descriptions. Instead he concentrates on the ways in which he responds and relates to the world. He uses his poetry to look at the relationship between nature and human life, and to explore the belief that nature can have an impact on our emotional and spiritual lives. My Heart Leaps Up My heart leaps up when I behold A rainbow in the sky: So was it when my life began; So is it now I am a man; So be it when I shall grow old, Or let me die! The Child is father of the Man; And I could wish my days to be Bound each to each by natural piety. Write: take a look at the poem and write your own. What makes your heart leap up? Something you see, hear, touch, taste or smell? Or a feeling? Jot down your thoughts about your chosen topic: o How do you feel right now? o What did you feel in the past? o How would you like to feel in the future? Use the poem s opening for yours if you like or create your own twist

8 8 Wordsworth saw the imagination as a powerful, active force. It works alongside our senses, interpreting the way we view the world and influencing how we react to events. He believed that a strong imaginative life is essential for our well-being. Often in Wordsworth s poetry, his intense imaginative effort translates into the great visionary moments of his poetry. Ode: Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood THERE was a time when meadow, grove, and stream, The earth, and every common sight, To me did seem Apparell'd in celestial light, The glory and the freshness of a dream. 5 It is not now as it hath been of yore; Turn wheresoe'er I may, By night or day, The things which I have seen I now can see no more. The rainbow comes and goes, 10 And lovely is the rose; The moon doth with delight Look round her when the heavens are bare; Waters on a starry night Are beautiful and fair; 15 The sunshine is a glorious birth; But yet I know, where'er I go, That there hath pass'd away a glory from the earth. These are the first two stanzas of a longer poem where Wordsworth explores, amongst other things, how your view of nature can change over time. Write: have a think about something you have a different view of now to how you felt about it in the past. Write two stanzas: Stanza One you explain the main difference in your feelings Stanza Two you explore the details of the change in you from now to then Research: find and read the whole poem. Talk about what you think it means and how it makes you feel.

9 9 Wordsworth was not living and working in isolation. His friends and family were an important source of support and inspiration. Of his sister Dorothy, he wrote She gave me eyes, she gave me ears. By his own admission, the best two lines in the poem I wandered lonely as a cloud / That floats on high o er vales and hills were by his wife Mary. I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud or Daffodils I wandered lonely as a cloud That floats on high o er vales and hills, When all at once I saw a crowd, A host, of golden daffodils; Beside the lake, beneath the trees, Fluttering and dancing in the breeze. Continuous as the stars that shine And twinkle on the milky way, They stretched in never-ending line Along the margin of a bay: Ten thousand saw I at a glance, Tossing their heads in sprightly dance. The waves beside them danced; but they Out-did the sparkling waves in glee: A poet could not but be gay, In such a jocund company: I gazed and gazed but little thought What wealth the show to me had brought: For oft, when on my couch I lie In vacant or in pensive mood, They flash upon that inward eye Which is the bliss of solitude; And then my heart with pleasure fills, And dances with the daffodils. Dorothy Wordsworth: pen and ink silhouette (c.1806) by an unknown artist. By permission of the Wordsworth trust Discuss: what do you think are the best two lines in the poem? Research: can you find out how Wordsworth was influenced by Mary and Dorothy in the writing of this poem? Drama: in groups, work on a dramatized reading and present it to the class. Think about: choral reading rapping or chanting adding characters

10 10 adding dialogue between characters using a different number of voices varying the pace and volume repeating words or phrases adding sound effects using movement and levels using freeze-frames using facial expressions Also think about: Who is the voice of the poem? What is the story? What is it about what is the main point? What is the mood? What do we want the audience to experience? She was a Phantom of Delight She was a Phantom of delight When first she gleamed upon my sight; A lovely Apparition, sent To be a moment's ornament; Her eyes as stars of Twilight fair; Like Twilight's, too, her dusky hair; But all things else about her drawn From May-time and the cheerful Dawn; A dancing Shape, an Image gay, To haunt, to startle, and way-lay. I saw her upon nearer view, A Spirit, yet a Woman too! Her household motions light and free, And steps of virgin-liberty; A countenance in which did meet Sweet records, promises as sweet; A Creature not too bright or good For human nature's daily food; For transient sorrows, simple wiles, Praise, blame, love, kisses, tears, and smiles. And now I see with eye serene The very pulse of the machine; A Being breathing thoughtful breath, A Traveller between life and death; The reason firm, the temperate will, Endurance, foresight, strength, and skill; A perfect Woman, nobly planned, To warn, to comfort, and command; And yet a Spirit still, and bright With something of angelic light.

11 11 Write: this poem was written for Wordsworth s wife Mary. It has eight syllables per line and is in rhyming couplets. Think about someone or something you met or discovered for the first time: What were your first impressions and reactions? Use similes as comparisons Maybe take a fresh look at someone you ve known all your life Perhaps you could write about discovering a favourite hobby You could echo Wordsworth s poetic form with the eight syllables per line and the rhyming couplets The Sparrow s Nest BEHOLD, within the leafy shade, Those bright blue eggs together laid! On me the chance-discovered sight Gleamed like a vision of delight. I started---seeming to espy The home and sheltered bed, The Sparrow's dwelling, which, hard by My Father' house, in wet or dry My sister Emmeline and I Together visited. She looked at it and seemed to fear it; Dreading, tho' wishing, to be near it: Such heart was in her, being then A little Prattler among men. The Blessing of my later year Was with me when a boy: She gave me eyes, she gave me ears; And humble care, and delicate fears; A heart, the fountain of sweet tears; And love, and thought, and joy. Write: this poem is a recollection of childhood where William and Dorothy are reacting to the same thing. It also shows the strong bond which existed between them as brother and sister and how she influenced his poetry. He often called Dorothy Emmeline in his writings. Think about a moment you shared with a friend or family member. Have a go at writing your own poem: What was it you both reacted to? Did it affect you in the same way? Take a close look at the pattern of the poem can you echo the same number of syllables and the arrangement of the rhymes?

12 12 The French Revolution began in 1789 with the storming of the Bastille. The Bastille was a notorious prison in Paris. Those who were seen as a threat to the state were kept there, often in terrible conditions and without trial. This was the first time that the leaders of a movement had been able to mobilise the urban working class to rise against the establishment of church and state. The motto of the Revolution was Liberty, Equality, Brotherhood. It stood for ideas such as social justice, personal freedoms, and the idea that there were inalienable human rights. Rights that did not depend on class, wealth or gender. Wordsworth supported many of the ideals of the French Revolution and to do so could be dangerous. To speak or write in support was a criminal offence. In the summer of 1797, while living in Somerset, Wordsworth and Coleridge, his friend and fellow poet, were suspected of being French spies. A government agent sent to investigate concluded, however, that they were merely a mischievous gang of disaffected Englishmen. Research: find out about Wordsworth s poem The Prelude. It s a long, autobiographical poem about many different parts of his life. Write: think a small part of your own life. Write an autobiographical poem. Wordsworth and Coleridge were fired by the ideas of the time. In terms of literature and art these brought a new stress on individual creativity and a sense of freedom to innovate. The two poets helped to bring about a revolution in poetry, giving it fresh impetus and a new direction. In their day, Wordsworth and Coleridge were seen as experimental poets. Their work challenged accepted ideas about what poetry was and how it might be written. Extract from Wordsworth s Preface to the Lyrical Ballads The principal object, then, proposed in these Poems was to choose incidents and situations from common life, and to relate or describe them, throughout, as far as was possible in a selection of language really used by men, and, at the same time, to throw over them a certain colouring of imagination, whereby ordinary things should be presented to the mind in an unusual aspect; and, further, and above all, to make these incidents and situations interesting by tracing in them, truly though not ostentatiously, the primary laws of our nature: chiefly, as far as regards the manner in which we associate ideas in a state of excitement. Humble and rustic life was generally chosen, because, in that condition, the essential passions of the heart find a better soil in which they can attain their maturity, are less under restraint, and speak a plainer and more emphatic language; because in that condition of life our elementary feelings coexist in a state of greater simplicity, and, consequently, may be more accurately contemplated, and more forcibly communicated; because the manners of rural life germinate from those elementary feelings, and, from the necessary character of rural occupations, are more easily comprehended, and are more durable; and, lastly, because in that condition the passions of men are incorporated with the beautiful and permanent forms of nature.

13 13 Write: Wordsworth was being quite a rebel here, saying that poetry should take a look at ordinary life with ordinary words. Have a go at writing something about your life, but in your own words, this time without echoing any of Wordsworth s poetic forms. Just be inspired by his philosophy choose something you know about it and write about it in your own way with your own choice of language. Wordsworth is often considered to be an egocentric poet interested only in himself, his experiences and his development. This is not quite a fair reflection. He supported social reform and believed in what were popularly known as The Rights of Man. These were the rights to individual freedoms of thought and expression, the right to justice. Society was undergoing huge changes. The drive for economic prosperity lead to an increase in both urban and rural poverty. Wordsworth explores the impact of this on the emotional and spiritual lives of the characters in his poems. Extract from Michael, A Pastoral Poem Upon the forest-side in Grasmere Vale There dwelt a Shepherd, Michael was his name; An old man, stout of heart, and strong of limb. His bodily frame had been from youth to age Of an unusual strength: his mind was keen, Intense, and frugal, apt for all affairs, And in his shepherd s calling he was prompt And watchful more than ordinary men. Hence had he learned the meaning of all winds, Of blasts of every tone; and, oftentimes, When others heeded not, he heard the South Make subterraneous music, like the noise Of bagpipers on distant Highland hills. The Shepherd, at such warning, of his flock Bethought him, and he to himself would say, The winds are now devising work for me! And, truly, at all times, the storm, that drives The traveller to a shelter, summoned him Up to the mountains: he had been alone Amid the heart of many thousand mists, That came to him, and left him, on the heights. So lived he till his eightieth year was past. Research and Write: ask a family member or friend about the work that they do or have done in their life. Alternatively, go to a library and find an autobiographical book about working lives present or past. Write a poem about your chosen person and the work they do or have done. You could use ten syllables and blank verse as Wordsworth does with Michael.

14 14 The Prelude is the name of Wordsworth s great autobiographical poem. The earliest manuscripts, containing material that later formed part of the poem, date from 1798, but Wordsworth continued to work on it for the rest of his life. The earliest versions differ quite significantly from the published version. The poem was not published until after Wordsworth s death in It was given its name by his wife Mary. The first complete version of the poem dates from The manuscript is on display in The Wordsworth Museum. Many of Wordsworth s friends read the poem long before it was published. It is possible that this is the very book that was passed from hand to hand. The manuscript is open on a page in the handwriting of Dorothy Wordsworth. The corrections you can see are by Wordsworth himself. This then, was very much a working document and gives us a fascinating insight into the way Wordsworth continually revised the poem. The Prelude: Spots of time There are in our existence spots of time, Which with distinct pre-eminence retain A renovating Virtue, whence, our minds Are nourished and invisibly repaired (Book XI, ls ) Spots of time for Wordsworth are past experiences. Through them he can trace his development as a man and as a poet. They continue to resonate with new meanings many years after the events themselves. Many of Wordsworth s spots of time arise out of moments of activity, such as ice-skating, horse riding or climbing a mountain. Others come in response to a particular feeling, such as guilt after stealing a rowing boat. Times of emotional intensity, such as the death of his father, are also spots of time. The death of Wordsworth s father (Book XI, ls ) This happened during the school holidays, when Wordsworth was 13. Waiting impatiently for the horses to take him home for the holidays, the young Wordsworth has no idea of what is to come. Many years later, however, the sights and sounds of his wait become entwined with the memory of the death of his father: And afterwards, the wind and sleety rain, And all the business of the elements, The single sheep, and the one blasted tree, And the bleak music of that old stone wall All these were spectacles and sounds to which I often would repair and thence would drink, As at a fountain

15 15 Stealing a boat ( Book I, ls ) This spot of time is a good example of the way in which Wordsworth projects his own feelings onto a landscape. His feeling of troubled pleasure on stealing the boat is given substance by the looming mountains, which eventually become the trouble of my dreams. I struck, and struck again, And, growing still in stature, the huge Cliff, Rose up between me and the stars, and still, With measured motion, like a living thing, Strode after me. Ice-skating (Book I, ls ) This is a memory from Wordsworth s school days. It describes ice-skating on frozen Esthwaite Water at night. The centre of the experience is the way in which the people and the landscape are all involved: So through the darkness and the cold we flew, And not a voice was idle; with the din, Meanwhile, the precipices rang aloud; The leafless trees, and every icy crag Tinkled like iron; Furness Abbey (Book II, ls ) This is another schoolboy adventure. Wordsworth and his friends hire horses and race them along the sands near Furness Abbey. There is contrast here between the internal breezes, sobbings of the place and the living energy of the riders: Oh! ye Rocks and Streams, And that still Spirit of the evening air! Even in this joyous time I sometimes felt Your presence, when with slackened step we breathed Along the sides of the steep hills, or when, Lighted by gleams of moonlight from the sea, We beat with thundering hoofs the level sand. Climbing Snowdon (Book XIII, ls 1-119) This is the imaginative vision with which the poem concludes. Here Wordsworth moves from describing the sights and sounds of the scene to imagining what might lie behind it. and from the shore At distance not the third part of a mile Was a blue chasm; a fracture in the vapour, A deep and gloomy breathing-place, through which Mounted the roar of waters, torrents, streams Innumerable, roaring with one voice. The universal spectacle throughout

16 16 Was shaped for admiration and delight, Grand in itself alone, but in that breach Through which the homeless voice of waters rose, That dark deep thoroughfare, had Nature lodged The Soul, the Imagination of the whole. Write: thinking about your own spots of time, first of all write a list of important moments in your life. Choose two or three of your memories and write a set of lines on each. If you like, you could then join these up to make one continuous poem. The The The The The The

17 17 Romanticism is a general term used to describe much of the art and literature produced during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Wordsworth is sometimes described as the father of Romanticism because he was the first person to articulate those feelings and ideas which came to characterize the movement. During this period there was a broad shift of emphasis in the arts. The movement was away from the structured, intellectual, reasoned approach of the 18th century (often called the Age of Reason, or the Enlightenment ). The new approach increased emphasis on the emotions and the imagination. Romanticism can be seen as a revolution in the arts. It should be seen alongside the political, social and industrial revolutions of the age. All spheres of human activity were undergoing great change. New theories and ideas were sweeping through Europe. Wordsworth and Coleridge were among the first British poets to explore them. Their poems display many characteristics of Romanticism, including: An emphasis on the emotions (a fashionable word at the beginning of the period was sensibility. This meant having, or cultivating, a sensitive, emotional and intuitive way of understanding the world) Exploring the relationship between nature and human life A stress on the importance of personal experiences and a desire to understand what influences the human mind A belief in the power of the imagination An interest in mythological, fantastical, gothic and supernatural themes An emphasis on the sublime (this word was used to describe a spiritual awareness, which could be stimulated by a grand and awesome landscape) Social and political idealism Research: find out more about the Romantic Poets. Extract from Tintern Abbey Five years have past; five summers, with the length Of five long winters! and again I hear These waters, rolling from their mountain-springs With a soft inland murmur. Once again Do I behold these steep and lofty cliffs, That on a wild secluded scene impress Thoughts of more deep seclusion; and connect The landscape with the quiet of the sky. The day is come when I again repose Here, under this dark sycamore, and view These plots of cottage-ground, these orchard-tufts, Which at this season, with their unripe fruits, Are clad in one green hue, and lose themselves 'Mid groves and copses. Once again I see These hedge-rows, hardly hedge-rows, little lines Of sportive wood run wild: these pastoral farms,

18 18 Green to the very door; and wreaths of smoke Sent up, in silence, from among the trees! With some uncertain notice, as might seem Of vagrant dwellers in the houseless woods, Or of some Hermit's cave, where by his fire The Hermit sits alone. Write: choose a place that you know well, one that you have visited more than once. Jot down a few feelings about the place, using the five senses of sight, sound, touch, taste and smell. Turn your thoughts into a poem. The Wordsworth Trust, Dove Cottage, Grasmere, Cumbria, LA22 9SH T: education@wordsworth.org.uk Theatre by the Lake, Lakeside, Keswick, Cumbria, CA12 5DJ T: participation@theatrebythelake.com