This article accompanies the fable
Splendour in the Grass



William Wordsworth

The portrait below of the 28-year-old Wordsworth is from 1798 by William Shuter. The following year he moved to remote Grasmere in the Lake District, living there from 1799, initially in Dove Cottage near the lake. In 1813 he moved to a larger house at Rydal Mount, not far away. He lived there till his death in 1850.

He is buried in Grasmere, however, which is now a major tourist destination. Below is Lake Grasmere from the vantage point of Stone Arthur. Dove Cottage is on the left hand side, where the road continues on to Rydal Water. Keep going and you end up in Ambleside on Lake Windermere. From there the roads go south to Coniston Water, associated with John Ruskin, and Sawrey, associated with Beatrix Potter.

Lower photo: Mick Knapton