Dorothy Mae Ann Wordsworth (25 December 1771 – 25 January 1855) was an English author, poet and diarist. She was the sister of the Romantic poet William Wordsworth, and the two were close for all of their lives. Dorothy Wordsworth did not set out to be an author, and her writings consist only of a series of letters, diary entries, poems and short stories.
On the night before William's marriage, Dorothy wore the ring he intended to give his bride. She later detailed her brother's wedding in her journal, writing:
On Monday, the 4 of October 1802, my brother William was married to Mary Hutchinson. I slept a good deal of the night and rose fresh and well in the morning. At a little after 8 o'clock, I saw them go down the avenue towards the church. ... I kept myself as quiet as I could, but when I saw the two men coming up the walk coming to tell me it was over, I could bear it no longer and threw myself on the bed, where I lay in stillness, neither hearing, nor seeing anything.
With her brother Dorothy occasionally played a curious game – they lay down next to each other outdoors, pretending to be in their graves. Some biographers have speculated about their strong attraction to each other, considering it sexual. William's poems, such as 'Lines' and 'To My Sister', don't give any hint of this, but do express his happiness, when she accompanies him on the walking trips: "My sister! ('tis a wish of mine) / Now that our morning meal is done, / Make haste, your morning task resign; / Come forth and feel the sun." (from 'To My Sister')