Poetry, Prose & the Lakes

Poetry, Prose & the Lakes

The Lake District's beauty has whetted the creativity of many a famous poet and artist. Here's a quick rundown of some of the writers inspired by the area's vistas.

William Wordsworth (1770-1850), one of the first English Romantics, redefined poetry by replacing the mannered style of his forerunners with a more conversational style. Many of his greatest works, such as The Prelude, draw directly from his experiences in the Lake District, where he spent the first 20 and last 50 years of his life. Wordsworth and his work had an enormous effect on Coleridge, Keats, Shelley, Byron, and countless other writers.

John Ruskin (1819-1900), writer, art critic, and early conservationist, was an impassioned champion of new ways of seeing. He defended contemporary artists such as William Turner and the Pre-Raphaelites. His five-volume masterwork, Modern Painters, changed the role of the art critic from that of approver or naysayer to that of interpreter.

Thomas De Quincey (1785-1859) wrote essays whose impressionistic style influenced many 19th-century writers, including Poe and Baudelaire. His most famous work, Confessions of an English Opium Eater (1822), is an imaginative memoir of his young life, which indeed included opium addiction. He settled in Grasmere in 1809.

Beatrix Potter (1866-1943) never had a formal education; instead, she spent her childhood studying nature. Her love of the outdoors, and Lakeland scenery in particular, influenced her delightfully illustrated children's books, including The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck and Squirrel Nutkin. Potter also became a noted conservationist who donated land to the National Trust.