Brain Snacks: Tasty Tidbits of Knowledge
Wordsworth had a love affair with a French woman. True story: Wordsworth traveled to France in 1791, all gung-ho for the democracy promised by the French Revolution. He had an affair with Annette Vallon, who had his illegitimate child. In 1792, he ran out of cash, and the French Revolution was rapidly devolving into a free-for-all blood-fest. So he went back to England, leaving Annette in the lurch. (Source)
In 1802, England had a brief period of peace with France, during which Wordsworth and his sister, Dorothy, went to France to visit Annette and Wordsworth's daughter, Caroline. He came to some kind of agreement with Annette about money (his Lyrical Ballads were still selling like hotcakes), and that was that. (Source)
Wordsworth's unmarried sister, Dorothy, lived with him for years as his friend, secretary, and housekeeper. Dorothy probably felt a bit like a third wheel after Wordsworth got married, but she stayed on anyway. (Source)
Wordsworth was buds with a lot of other Romantic poets, including Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Charles Lamb. (Source)