Abstract

This paper explores the intersection of epitaphic language and tourism in the works of William Wordsworth from 1807-1835. Compared to his earlier, more literal epitaphs, works such as "Yarrow Unvisited" (1807) and "Elegiac Stanzas" (1807) demonstrate a shift towards broader epitaphic language that foregrounds the ability of epitaphic texts to invite the reader to pause and make their own connection with the inscribed site. With the publication of "Essay upon Epitaphs" (1810) he further established his theory on the ideal epitaph as text capable of anticipating and connecting anonymous readers to the site and subject, whether inscribed on a headstone or on the page. In the same year, 1810, the letterpress to Joseph Wilkinson's Select Views was published marking the beginning of what would become Wordsworth's Guide to the Lakes (1835). These works of prose along with various poems demonstrate how Wordsworth created literary signposts that directed tourists where to find significant sites and modeled how best to engage with monuments, landscapes, and communities in the Lake District. This paper examines Wordsworth's use of epitaphic language and the epitaphic formula in order to inform tourists. His epitaphic texts not only invite this kind of on-the-spot approach but are also suited to address virtual (armchair) tourists. In both his poetry and the Guide, epitaphic elements promote a contemplative, reverential attitude, which models for the reader-tourist how to bond with the sites visited rather than simply pass by.

Degree

College and Department

Humanities; English

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