Poetry: Stamps released to remember William Wordsworth and other Romantic poets
- Published
The Rainbow is a famous poem by William Wordsworth. One of the UK's most famous poets, Wordsworth was born in 1770 in the Lake District. His parents died before he was 14-years-old, so Wordsworth and his brothers and sisters were split up to live with different relatives. He wrote poetry while he was at school and took a keen interest in the natural world. Did you know that in 1843 Wordsworth became Poet Laureate? He turned down the job at first, saying that he was too old, but accepted when the Prime Minister asked him.
This stamp features a line from Mary Robinson's poem, Ode to the Snowdrop. Born in 1757, Mary was an English actress, poet, dramatist, novelist, and celebrity. Famous for her acting and writing, she was gossiped about in newspapers and dated George IV when he was Prince of Wales - that meant she did not receive recognition for her work until much later She is now well known for being inspired by feminism and for speaking out about women's right to education, and their important place in the literary world. She talked about other female writers in her own work.
John Keats work, Ode on a Grecian Urn, is one of the UK's most famous poems and children have studied it in school for a long time. Born in 1795, Keats' poems weren't that popular during his lifetime, but his reputation grew after his death. By the end of the 19th century, he had become one of the most beloved of all English poets.
Lord Byron's She Walks in Beauty, is celebrated in this stamp. Lord Byron, or George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron, was an English poet and politician. He travelled extensively across Europe during his life, especially in Italy, where he lived for seven years. He also fought in the Greek War of Independence where he died age 36 in 1824. Did you know his daughter, Ada Lovelace, became one of the pioneers of computing?
Letitia Elizabeth Landon's poem, The Fate of Adelaide, was in a book of the same name and was published in 1821 when she was still a teenager. Did you know she often wrote under her initials L.E.L which gave the author an air of mystery and created curiosity around her identity. Things were sometimes difficult for her as, in these days, some people didn't think that a woman was supposed to be a professional writer.
This stamp features a line from the William Blake work, Auguries of Innocence: "To see a world in a grain of sand /And heaven in a wild flower". William Blake was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his lifetime he was born in 1757 in London and died in 1827.
Next it is John Clare's The Progress of Rhyme. Born in Peterborough, John was the son of a farm worker who became known for his celebrations of the English countryside and sadness at how it was changing during the mid-nineteenth century.
This quote is from Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem Frost at Midnight. Coleridge was born in 1772, in Devonshire. He was the youngest of 10 children and was a big reader at an early age. He wrote poems inspired by the human imagination. Hew as close friends with Wordsworth and they both lived in the Lake District. Coleridge also wrote books and was a journalist. Did you know when he was at university he ran away and joined the army!
Sir Walter Scott was a hugely famous writer when he was alive and was a celebrity. He wrote poems, plays and novels and was a historian too. One famous story about him involved the future King George IV giving him a a special mission to recover the Crown Jewels which had been locked in a box in Edinburgh Castle for more than 100 years!
- Published7 April 2020
- Published7 April 2020
- Published6 April 2020
