Poems About the Lake District: The Verses and Their Places

The Lake District holds a unique position in English literature, inspiring more poetry than anywhere else in England. This enduring cultural legacy is firmly tied to the lives of William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and Robert Southey. All three writers lived among these fells and valleys, eventually becoming known collectively as the Lake Poets. Rather than viewing the landscape merely as a backdrop, they wrote directly about the terrain itself—the weather, the tarns, the rocky paths, and the deep, cold waters.

The poems about the Lake District gathered below capture the distinct, weather-beaten character of this region. To ground these verses in the physical geography of the landscape, every poem is set beside the specific place it is about. We have paired these words with details of their locations and ways to view impressions of those same scenes.

1. "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" — William Wordsworth (1807)

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

William Wordsworth composed his most well-known verses inspired by a walk along the western shore of Ullswater near Aira Force. The woods and shoreline here remain much as they were, a narrow margin caught between the steep fellside and the water. You can read the full text of this piece in our guide, I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud: The Poem and the Place. Find impressions of this valley in the Ullswater collection, which includes Ullswater with Vibrant Pink Fells.

2. "My Heart Leaps Up" — William Wordsworth (1802)

My heart leaps up when I behold
A rainbow in the sky:
So was it when my life began;
So is it now I am a man;
So be it when I shall grow old,
Or let me die!
The Child is father of the Man;
And I could wish my days to be
Bound each to each by natural piety.

Written at Dove Cottage, Grasmere, in 1802, this short verse reflects the quiet observation Wordsworth practised while living in the central lakes. Grasmere sits low among steep fells, where sudden rain showers frequently leave bright arcs of colour across the valley. View the Grasmere collection, which features Grasmere Lake in Golden Light and the precise Grasmere Lake Map — Watercolour Poster.

3. "After-Thought" — William Wordsworth (1820)

I thought of Thee, my partner and my guide,
As being past away.—Vain sympathies!
For, backward, Duddon! as I cast my eyes,
I see what was, and is, and will abide;
Still glides the Stream, and shall for ever glide;
The Form remains, the Function never dies;
While we, the brave, the mighty, and the wise,
We Men, who in our morn of youth defied
The elements, must vanish;—be it so!
Enough, if something from our hands have power
To live, and act, and serve the future hour;
And if, as toward the silent tomb we go,
Through love, through hope, and faith's transcendent dower,
We feel that we are greater than we know.

This is the last of Wordsworth's sonnets on the River Duddon, published in 1820. The Duddon valley runs from Wrynose Pass south-west to the sea, a long trench of rock and clear water away from the busier central fells. Devoke Water lies on the moor above the Duddon's neighbour, Eskdale. Explore the Valleys & Passes collection, and find the Devoke Water Lake Map — Watercolour Contour Poster.

4. "A Thought Suggested by a View of Saddleback in Cumberland" — Samuel Taylor Coleridge

On stern Blencathra's perilous height
The winds are tyrannous and strong;
And flashing forth unearthly light
From stern Blencathra's skiey height,
As loud the torrents throng!
Beneath the moon, in gentle weather,
They bind the earth and sky together.
But oh! the sky and all its forms, how quiet!
The things that seek the earth, how full of noise and riot!

Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote these lines using the old name for the fell we now call Blencathra, Saddleback. This vast mass of slate rises sharply above Threlkeld near Keswick, dominating the northern skyline with its steep ridges. Discover the Blencathra collection for pieces such as Blencathra Above Sunlit Hay Bales and the Modern Geometric Blencathra In Teal.

5. "The Cataract of Lodore" — Robert Southey (1820)

"How does the water
Come down at Lodore?"
My little boy asked me
Thus, once on a time;

Between these opening lines and the conclusion below, the poem is one long cascade of rhyming verbs mimicking the rush of the beck.

And so never ending, but always descending,
Sounds and motions for ever and ever are blending,
All at once and all o'er, with a mighty uproar,
And this way the water comes down at Lodore.

Robert Southey published this piece in 1820 about Lodore Falls, which drops steeply over boulders at the southern end of Derwentwater, in Borrowdale. Explore the Borrowdale collection to see Vivid Lodore Falls Lake View, or read our guide, Lake District Waterfalls: Where to Find the Best Drops.

6. From "The Prelude" — William Wordsworth (1850)

And in the frosty season, when the sun
Was set, and visible for many a mile
The cottage windows blazed through twilight gloom,
I heeded not their summons

Published in 1850, this excerpt from "The Prelude" remembers a boy skating on Esthwaite Water. The water lies beside Hawkshead, where Wordsworth was at school, surrounded by a gentle, rolling landscape of pastures and woods. View the Hawkshead collection, find the Esthwaite Water — Watercolour Map Poster, or learn more in Wordsworth's Lake District: The Places and the Poems.

The Lakes at Home

To bring these landscapes indoors, browse The Lakes collection. Please note that the paintings are impressions of these places, not photographs of them.

• Square paintings are sold at 40cm, 70cm and 90cm. Framed print £89.99 / £129.99 / £199.99; unframed print £59.99 / £79.99 / £99.99; framed canvas £109.99 / £159.99 / £209.99; unframed canvas £79.99 / £119.99 / £169.99. Frames in black, white or natural wood.
• Everything is made to order: 2-5 working days to print, then 3-7 working days' UK delivery. Framed pieces arrive with hanging fixings fitted. A gift message can be added at checkout.
• The lake map posters: one water per sheet, its true shoreline as a deep blue watercolour wash, the fells around it as fine grey contour lines. Framed, three sizes: 30 x 40cm £89.99, 45 x 60cm £119.99, 50 x 70cm £129.99; frames in black, white or natural wood. Collection Lake Posters.