Tag Archives: Wordsworth

The Books: On the Pleasure of Hating, ‘The Fight’, by William Hazlitt

On the essays shelf: On the Pleasure of Hating, by William Hazlitt William Hazlitt is not as well known as he should be; much of this is because most of his work is now out of print. But if you … Continue reading

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The Books: Six Centuries of Great Poetry: A Stunning Collection of Classic British Poems from Chaucer to Yeats: William Wordsworth

Daily Book Excerpt: Poetry Six Centuries of Great Poetry: A Stunning Collection of Classic British Poems from Chaucer to Yeats, edited by Robert Penn Warren and Albert Erskine In his youth Wordsworth sympathized with the French Revolution, went to France, … Continue reading

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Understanding

“Well, I hope they understand one another – nobody else would.” — Wordsworth, 1846 – musing on the marriage of Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning

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“he could not bear young girls”

“William Hazlitt owned that he could not bear young girls; they drove him mad. So I took him home to my old nurse, where he recovered perfect tranquility.” — Charles Lamb to William Wordsworth, June 26, 1806

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John Milton Is Turning 400 Years Old

Many venues in New York (and, I assume, elsewhere) are getting ready to celebrate and pay tribute. I will definitely need to check out the exhibit at the Morgan Library (opening in October) – and I just love this entire … Continue reading

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Youth

In his youth Wordsworth sympathized with the French Revolution, went to France, wrote good poetry, and had a natural daughter. At this period, he was called a ‘bad’ man. Then he became ‘good’, abandoned his daughter, adopted correct principles, and … Continue reading

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Isaac Newton, by James Gleick

I finished my second book on the “From the Stacks” challenge list. Isaac Newton – by James Gleick. One of the reader reviews on that Amazon page says, “I found myself reading this book as I walked to the busstop … Continue reading

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Today in History: April 28, 1789

On April 28th, 1789, 12 crew members of the HMS Bounty burst into Captain Bligh’s cabin, dragged him out onto the deck of the ship, put him in a lifeboat, and set him adrift. It was the now-famous Mutiny on … Continue reading

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Commonplace

It was Wordsworth’s clear line I wanted, nothing to do with mountains, only the quiet sunshine and silence, but I hated being alone. The lonely cannot love solitude. I wanted a garden outside tall windows, winter sun in leafless branches, … Continue reading

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Commonplace

The strength of the genie comes of his being confined in a bottle. — Wordsworth.

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