The William Wordsworth Tour
Before Starting the Tour
1. Read the following poems by William Wordsworth: 'Daffodils', 'Intimations of Immortality', 'Tables Turned' and 'Expostulation and Reply' and 'Lines Written in Early Spring'.
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2. Book a trip to Lake District, UK. I recommend staying at Windermere, Bowness on Windermere or Ambleside and travelling to Grasmere (where Wordsworth lived) to do this tour. This is because Grasmere, while being a quaint town, is really tiny, and there are more activities to do at the other towns.
The Tour
Dove Cottage, Grasmere, Lake District
This is where Wordsworth lived for about ten years with his sister, Dorothy, and wife, Mary Hutchinson. For 9 pounds, you get to explore the Dove Cottage and the Wordsworth Museum. There are guides at the Dove Cottage to explain Wordsworth's life at Grasmere; the guides are dressed in costumes from Wordsworth's era and they even quote from his poems. It's a wonderful experience! The backyard of the Dove Cottage has stones engraved with lines from Wordsworth's poems and various little flowerbeds just as Dorothy used to keep it with her brother. The museum is excellent too with details from Wordsworth's life and his work along with Dorothy's journal! The quaint shop has mementos, books and other Wordsworth-related knick-knacks.
Grasmere itself is a quaint little town about 15 minutes from Ambleside by bus. It's fun to mosey through the little shops, have cake and coffee at a tea house, visit the Wordsworth Garden (which doesn't really have anything to do with Wordsworth) and have some gingerbread at the oldest gingerbread shop in the town. For more on the Dove Cottage, visit the website.
Look Out for Daffodils!
Wherever you saunter in Lake District, keep an eye out for daffodils and when you do spot any, take a picture in your mind's eye as Wordsworth did and see if at some point it inspires you to lines such as these:
"For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils."
-- Wordsworth's 'Daffodils'
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Relax in Wordsworth's Style
Practically anywhere in Lake District, you can enjoy Nature and relax as you listen to its sounds and take in its beauty. If anyone tells you what Matthew (his friend) told Wordsworth in 'Expostulation and Reply', you can also reply in Wordsworth style.
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What Matthew asked:
"Why, William, on that old grey stone,
Thus for the length of half a day,
Why, William, sit you thus alone,
And dream your time away?
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Wordsworth's reply:
"Think you, 'mid all this mighty sum
Of things for ever speaking (i.e. Nature),
That nothing of itself will come,
But we must still be seeking?
"—Then ask not wherefore, here, alone,
Conversing as I may,
I sit upon this old grey stone,
And dream my time away,"
Reflect on Wordsworth's Poems as you Wander
As you amble through the Lake District or relax on the banks of the beautiful Lake Windermere, think of these lines from 'Lines Written in Early Spring':
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I heard a thousand blended notes,
While in a grove I sate reclined,
In that sweet mood when pleasant thoughts
Bring sad thoughts to the mind.
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Through primrose tufts, in that green bower,
The periwinkle trailed its wreaths;
And ’tis my faith that every flower
Enjoys the air it breathes.
The birds around me hopped and played,
Their thoughts I cannot measure:—
But the least motion which they made
It seemed a thrill of pleasure.
The budding twigs spread out their fan,
To catch the breezy air;
And I must think, do all I can,
That there was pleasure there.
If this belief from heaven be sent,
If such be Nature’s holy plan,
Have I not reason to lament
What man has made of man?
