A Sister-City Story | When Dove Cottage Glows by Candlelight: A Halloween Night of Poetry and Monsters

Reposted from the official WeChat account of the British Consulate-General in Chongqing

The picturesque Lake District National Park was the beloved homeland of England’s Romantic poet William Wordsworth. Born among its hills, educated at Cambridge, and once swept up in the fervour of the French Revolution, he returned home disillusioned but spiritually transformed.

In 1799, at the age of twenty-nine, Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy bought a small cottage nestled between Silver How and Lake Grasmere. They called it Dove Cottage. With mountains at its back and water before its door, the house became his true sanctuary — a place where he roamed like an earthly wanderer, seeking inspiration and expanding the boundaries of thought.

It was here that Wordsworth composed many of his finest poems, including his most beloved, I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud. Those were his happiest and most creative years. He married Mary Hutchinson, and their family life was filled with warmth — evenings by the fire, laughter, and gentle light.

When the children were asleep, the poet would sit at his round wooden desk upstairs, lost in thought. That same desk witnessed his tireless writing and long midnight conversations with friends. It is said that Mary Shelley visited several times; together they discussed gothic poetry and tales of the supernatural. Frankenstein, legend has it, was partly inspired by those exchanges.

Today, Dove Cottage remains almost exactly as it was. Handmade furniture, soft fabrics, and flickering candles preserve its quiet intimacy. One feels the poet might step through the door at any moment. Outside, the landscape changes with the seasons, yet something eternal lingers — and one suddenly understands his words: “Plain living and high thinking.”

Now part of the Wordsworth Grasmere Museum, the cottage welcomes visitors to sit at the poet’s table — even to enjoy afternoon tea upon it. As staff explain, the aim is to offer guests the most authentic experience possible.

The newest and most exciting addition is a Halloween party titled “Nightfall at Dove Cottage: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.” Guests are invited to dress up, listen to readings from Frankenstein and Wordsworth’s own works, and savour special Halloween treats inside the poet’s home.

More than two centuries on, the cottage has not aged with its master. It continues to inspire life, imagination, and delight — a living link between poetry, memory, and the timeless magic of the Lake District.