The Grasmere and Alfoxden Journals

This is a journal kept by William Wordsworth's sister Dorothy covering two and a half years (mid 1800 to January 1803) of their lives in Dove Cottage in Grasmere, in the heart of the Lake District, a house which she shared with William and his wife Mary (and assorted others, including sometimes Samuel Coleridge). The journal was not intended for publication, and indeed was not published until nearly 50 years after William's and Dorothy's deaths. Like any such journal, it contains a lot of mundane and repetitive detail, but these contribute towards the ebb and flow of their lives as the seasons and years roll by in this beautiful corner of the country. Most people would say (then and now) they had an idyllic lifestyle, marked mostly by show more reading, writing, and the walks they do round Grasmere/Easedale and Rydal, gaining inspiration for William's poems, and to Ambleside and Keswick (and one longer journey down the eastern side of the country via Yorkshire to London, and across the Channel to Calais, in the late summer of 1802). Also recorded is, of course, the famous walk of 15 April 1802 in the woods beyond Gowbarrow Park where they saw the host of daffodils that inspired the poet's most famous creation. Their walking capacity is very high by our standards and walking to Ambleside and back, in winter, a distance of some three and a half miles, to check if there is any post to be collected, or to visit friends, is nothing out of the ordinary. On one occasion, Dorothy records walking to Keswick on a frosty day in November, a distance of some 12.5 miles, setting off at 5 minutes past 10 and arriving at half past 2. But life is not all a bed of roses; one thing that strikes the reader is how often both William and Dorothy are ill, the latter regularly having toothaches and headaches that incapacitate her, and William frequently prostrate with exhaustion through the exercise of his creative powers and general constitutional weakness. It seems a minor miracle they both lived into their 80s. And the outside world does get in: one thing that struck me was the regular appearance at the cottage of various beggars and other itinerants travelling through the area looking for work and/or money, reflections of economic (the early stirrings of the industrial revolution) and political (the Napoleonic wars) developments. In sum, this journal gives a good picture of the lifestyle and habits of the poet and his family at this stage in their lives, set against the beautiful backdrop of the Lakes. show less

Read for a graduate seminar on Romantic Period women writers at CU Boulder.

This one was about as dull as they come, for me. I’m sure poets will probably love reading about the stories and daily occurrences that inspired Wordsworth’s most celebrated works –but I am neither a poet, nor a Wordsworth fanatic.
If long walks backwards and forwards, constant sickness, and an odd fear of cows is your thing – off you go. If not – I’d recommend skipping this one.