William Wordsworth

William Wordsworth was born in the Lake District and educated in Lancashire and then Cambridge. As a young man, he went to France where he was fascinated by republicanism. His first poems were published in 1793, and was followed in 1798 by Lyrical Ballads, a collaboration with Coleridge that proved foundational to the English romantic movement. Wordsworth was selected Poet Laureate in 1847, a post he held until his death at the age of 80. He was the only Poet Laureate to produce no official poetry while in office.