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What major poems did William Wordsworth write during his great decade?
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William Wordsworth
English Romantic poet William Wordsworth, portrait by Henry Edridge, 1804; at Dove Cottage, Grasmere, England.
William Wordsworth wrote the majority of his most significant works during his "great decade," spanning from 1797 to 1808. During this period, he produced a prolific body of poetry, including:12
- Major Lyrics and Odes: "Tintern Abbey," "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" (also known as "Daffodils"), "The Solitary Reaper," "Resolution and Independence," and the "Ode: Intimations of Immortality."12
- Narrative and Pastoral Works: The collection Lyrical Ballads (1798), which included later additions such as the tragic pastorals "The Brothers" and "Michael."32
- Elegies and Autobiographical Works: The "Lucy" and "Matthew" elegies, the "Elegiac Stanzas Suggested by a Picture of Peele Castle in a Storm," and his monumental autobiographical work, The Prelude.12
- Other Collections: Many of these works were featured in his second major verse collection, Poems, in Two Volumes (1807).2
These poems are celebrated for their focus on everyday experiences, the use of common language, and their profound connection to nature, marking the beginning of English Romanticism.32