ABSTRACT
Wordsworth, then, was born at Cockermouth in Cumberland on 7 April 1770. His mother died when he was seven years old, his father when he was sixteen. Wordsworth read fairy-tales, Robin Hood and the Arabian Nights; later on Swift, Fielding, and Don Quixote. Wordsworth, not so free in Cambridge as at Hawks-head, managed to achieve a certain freedom. Wordsworth fell back upon Godwin, taking refuge from fact in speculation. Godwin’s defects are easy to criticise, but the inspiring thought of all his teaching will not easily be eradicated from the human mind—the supremacy of intellect. The great conclusion which Wordsworth draws from all his experience of life is the paramount duty of happiness.
