Grasmere: The Wordsworth Graves

 Whilst in Grasmere, we inevitably gravitated towards St. Oswald's church:

Have just read that this church building dates back to the 14th century, although the first church in Grasmere was founded by Oswald, the King of Northumbria, in 642.

Of course, we had to visit St. Oswald's church because this is where William Wordsworth and many of his family are buried.

The signpost below lets everybody know that they're at the Wordsworth graves:

Alongside William Wordsworth (1770-1850), himself, and others, his sister, Dorothy (1771-1855); wife, Mary (1770-1859); and children: Dora (1804-1847), Catherine (1808-1812), and Thomas (1806-1812) lie at peace here:  

 

Have just read that the graves lie in the shade of a Yew tree, one of eight planted by Wordsworth himself in the churchyard.

Have also discovered that Mary's sister, Sara Hutchinson (1775-1835), and Samuel Taylor Coleridge's son, Hartley (1796-1849), are buried in the Wordsworth family plot above.

This was the third time I'd visited the Wordsworth family graves, and on each occasion, I've kind of felt something profound (some kind of metaphysical presence or nobility, but impossible to describe exactly).

My favourite poems by Wordsworth are quite predictable, I guess, Immortality Ode (for its mention of pre-mortality); Tintern Abbey (hope to visit the place next year); Michael (for its stoic virtue theme); and, of course, Daffodils/I Wandered as Lonely as a Cloud (can still remember my grandmother reciting this to me as a child in Heywood, Lancashire)

This was a great taste of Wordsworth which would be encountered a few times on our quick tour through the South Lakes.