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One of the few portraits of Dorothy Wordsworth.

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Dorothy Wordsworth was the middle child and only daughter of five children born to John Wordsworth and Ann Cookson. When she was six, her mother died, and then her father at twelve. As a result, she lived with relatives and separated from her brothers, only seeing them on holidays.

In her early twenties, she left the care of her relatives, opting to live with her brother, William Wordsworth (a soon-to-be notable poet in his own right). In Alfoxden, she began chronicling their daily lives spent together and with their friend, Samuel Taylor Coleridge (another famous poet). She continued this habit when they moved to Dove Cottage after William married. She spent her entire life in William and his wife's care, but it did not seem to matter to him. William loved his sister and found her to be a great source of inspiration. Many of the sibling's writings are connected in some way, either in theme or subject. She had a major love for nature, most of her writings connected directly back to it. Because of this, and her connection to her brother and Coleridge, she is seen as a major influence on the Romantic movement.

Wordsworth never married and opted to spend the rest of her life with her brother and his wife. In the last 20 years of her life, Dorothy began to suffer from dementia, fell ill, and became addicted to opium. Eventually, she became bedridden and deteriorated rapidly. Despite this, her brother and his wife continued their care for her, standing as a testament to how much they loved her.

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Dove Cottage, the home of the Wordsworths and others later in their lives.

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Dorothy’s Grasmere Journal - Published 1897; chronicles the daily lives of the Wordsworth siblings later in life at Dove Cottage (seen above).

The Falls of the Clyde - Published 1897; Describes the time Dorothy spent at Clyde Falls with her brother and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, emphasizes the description of Scottish landscape and nature.

Journals of Dorothy Wordsworth - Published 1987; A compilation of the various journals and diaries of Dorothy Wordsworth, including The Falls of Clyde and Grasmere Journals.

Dorothy Wordsworth, ‘Irregular Verses’ - Published 1987; A poem centered on two friends who love Nature, but as they grow older, one falls out of love with it and the other becomes self-conscious of their continued love for it.

A Winter’s Ramble in Grasmere Vale - Published 1973; A rambling trod through the countryside in the middle of winter, explores traditional romantic and pastoral themes.

https://2012books.lardbucket.org/books/british-literature-through-history/s06-07-dorothy-wordsworth-1771-1855.html (List of Works)

https://www.visitcumbria.com/amb/dove-cottage-wordsworth-museum/ (Cottage History.)

https://2012books.lardbucket.org/books/british-literature-through-history/s06-07-dorothy-wordsworth-1771-1855.html (Image Origin.)

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A page from Georgia Bennett’s sketchbook for The Grasmere Journal.

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Nature - A common and unsurprising theme for a Romantic-era writer, Dorothy had a huge fascination and love of nature. She was most at peace and sought respite outdoors, especially amongst the daffodils of Grasmere. I once personally described Dorothy's description of nature as unique because, "Whereas other authors flat out state that nature is an escape, Wordsworth makes it feel like one." An interesting thing to note is that, once she became bedridden, her health happened to rapidly decline as though no longer being able to freely explore nature negatively impacted her health.

Tranquility - Relates back to Nature. Wordsworth's pieces centered around the tranquility that Nature could provide and offered her. Her writings often found her "lost" in the woods at complete peace with her place in the space.

Escape - Relates back to Nature. Wordsworth often described Nature as an escape from the hustle and bustle of the world, using her imagery to draw the reader away from their reality and into hers in the middle of the woods.

https://oer.galileo.usg.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1016&context=english-textbooks (General Information on Dorothy).

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/apr/25/wordsworth-dorothy-lake-district-grasmere-journal (An article about an artist's efforts to bring Dorothy Wordsworth's imagery in her Grasmere Journal to life.)

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Daffodils from the Grasmere Gardens, a garden created to emulate the Wordsworth sibling's writings on the daffodils in the area.

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An Excerpt from Dorothy Wordsworth's The Grasmere Journal:

"When we were in the woods beyond Gowbarrow park we saw a few daffodils close to the water side. We fancied that the lake had floated the seeds ashore and that the little colony had so sprung up. But as we went along there were more and yet more and at last under the boughs of the trees, we saw that there was a long belt of them along the shore, about the breadth of a country turnpike road. I never saw daffodils so beautiful they grew among the mossy stones about and about them, some rested their heads upon these stones as on a pillow for weariness and the rest tossed and reeled and danced and seemed as if they verily laughed with the wind that blew upon them over the lake, they looked so gay ever glancing ever changing. This wind blew directly over the lake to them. There was here and there a little knot and a few stragglers a few yards higher up but they were so few as not to disturb the simplicity and unity and life of that one busy highway" (109-110).

This trip and excerpt are important because these are the exact daffodils that would later inspire her brother's poem "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud"; or as it's more commonly called, "Daffodils" for its focus on the flower.

https://grasmerevillage.wordpress.com/2010/06/01/grasmere-daffodil-garden/ (Image Origin and history of the Wordsworth Daffodil Garden.)

https://romantic-circles.org/sites/default/files/RCOldSite/www/rchs/reader/dwdaff.html (Excerpt Origin.)

https://absolute-escapes.com/self-catering-holiday-cottage-blog/what-inspired-wordsworth (How the daffodils inspired William Wordsworth.)

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This 3D memorial was set up in Cockermouth, UK (Wordsworth's birthplace) to commemorate her 250th birthday back in 2021.

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Ironically, Dorothy Wordsworth didn't want to be known as an author. She once wrote, "I should detest the idea of setting myself up as an author." She once attempted to publish her journey to Scotland that she took with William, but never found a publisher to do so. Because of this, it wasn't until after her death that she became published.

She was overlooked for a long time until her writings were found in her barn long after her death by the author of Peter Rabbit, Beatrix Potter. Potter published her Grasmere Journal, which was well-received, at a very opportune time as women authors were being reanalyzed for their contributions to literature.

Her work's modern-day influence, and the influence she had on her brother, have cemented her as an important literary figure for years to come.

https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Dorothy_Wordsworth#Legacy (Details on her legacy)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothy_Wordsworth#cite_note-3 (Biographical Information)

https://www.timesandstar.co.uk/news/19757288.3d-dorothy-portrait-takes-centre-stage-cockermouth/ (A small article on how Dorothy Wordsworth's town still puts forth the effort to remember her legacy.)