Wordsworth, William

Opening by introducing William Wordsworth's boyhood home in the Lake District of England, this film from the Famous Authors series offers an overview of the writer's work and biography. The Lake District greatly inspired Wordsworth and resulted in his apparent fascination with nature. The film contextualizes the poet's life at Cambridge and then in France, the ongoing conditions of the French Revolution, and the important relationships of Wordsworth's life, including those with Annette Vallon, Mary Hutchinson, his sister Dorothy, and the poet Samuel Coleridge, within whom he wrote Lyrical Ballads. (37 minutes)

Tucked away in arguably the most lovely corner of Great Britain, a poetic revolution took place around the turn of the 19th century that did much to define the nature of modern poetry. Using the atmospheric scenery of the Lake District as a backdrop, this program focuses on the literary development of William Wordsworth and Samuel Coleridge. Expert commentary is provided by some of the greatest authorities on British romanticism, including Robert Woof, Jonathan Wordsworth, Grevel Lindop, Molly Lefebure, and Pamela Woof. The late poet laureate Ted Hughes reads from the works of Wordsworth. (62 minutes)