Discussing a poet’s acquaintance with a revolution is a rare case, especially when the poet is William Wordsworth. People all over the world know Wordsworth as a pioneering English Romantic poet. But the timeline of his appearance as a writer made him a part of the French Revolution era.
The era of the French Revolution was also the era of the English Romantic Movement. Several world-famous poets, philosophers, and politicians emerged with high esteem during this period. Their matchless talents made them pioneers in their fields. And due to the emergence of the French Revolution, these personalities got significant and noteworthy identities in human society. A lot of discussions and research papers have already talked about it. But it is indeed rare to see a study exploring how they became acquainted with the said Revolution.
French Revolution was perhaps the most significant incident of the 18th century. It began in 1789 and lasted till 1799. William Wordsworth(1770 to 1850) inevitably witnessed this life-changing event. More accurately, like others, the poet, too, accepted it as an expected thing. And, his works show the uprising impacted his outlook but not in the way of a revolt. It rather harmonized his feelings and thoughts.
Wordsworth never became too surprised to see the yell and scream for liberty, equality, and fraternity. The reason is he spent his early years in a society in Cumberland (his birthplace)that always experienced a sense of equality. And it was undeniable that equality brought fraternity. That means a community with equality remained a part of fraternity too. His life history shows that he witnessed these same things while living at Cambridge.
Yes, Wordsworth always witnessed a warm-hearted sense of equality between men in Cumberland. And he found this same association even when he moved to St. John’s College, Cambridge, in 1787. This warmth, caring affection fostered his mind to adopt the line of equal opportunities all the time. The compassionate notion got more nourished in his later years.
For most people, a revolution means to revolt. Some even prefer to define it as a rebellion. However, the English Romantic poet never saw it in that way. His early life and youth had witnessed the term of equality in its proper form. And so, when he saw the mad joy of an uprising, he started perceiving things differently. A madness of winning among the French people forced the poet to alter his attitude towards Revolution.
