William Wordsworth's Poetry

William Wordsworth's poetry finds lasting significance in experiences that might at first appear modest: a solitary singer, a field of daffodils, or a remembered walk. I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud makes recollection part of the original pleasure, while Tintern Abbey considers how an earlier encounter with a landscape changes as a person grows. The Intimations of Immortality ode gives childhood, loss, and continuing human attachment a more expansive form. Plain speech and sustained meditation belong to the same poetic practice, in which attention to nature often leads back to the mind's obligations and its relationships with others.