William Wordsworth
"And then my heart with pleasure fills, and dances with the daffodils." If you've ever read this joyful ode to blooming daffodils in I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud by 17th-century poet William Wordsworth, you have the Lake District to thank for it. After growing up in Cockermouth and later in life living in the idyllic Dove Cottage in Grasmere, Wordsworth was instrumental in introducing many of England's most influential late 18th- and early 19th-century writers to the wonders of the Lake District. In addition to being a founding figure of the English Romanticism movement and one of the most notable Romantic poets, Wordsworth was also one of the founders of the Lake Poets, a group of writers and poets who lived in the area and often drew inspiration from these landscapes for their work.