Ann was able to act somewhat like a mother towards William and did a great deal of encouraging William's love of nature in the Lake District area. Holidays were the worst for William because he had to live with his money-conscious uncles and cruel parents of his mother in Penrith, England. William loved the town of Penrith because of its beauty but hated spending time in the Cookson household so much that at one time he had a desire to commit suicide. Wordsworth was always fond of nature, and most of his most successful poems were based on nature. Generations of his family were all landowners, so loving a simple country life tended to run in the family. One critic, Matthew Arnold, felt that Wordsworth's powerful writing connected with his love for nature is what made his poetry great. Wordsworth traveled abroad several times throughout Europe for both political reasons and to observe the nature there. Several of Wordsworth's poems were written in Germany, where he went with his sister Dorothy and friend Samuel Taylor Coleridge from 1798-1799. Some examples of Germany-based poetry by Wordsworth are the "Lucy" poems, which were written there, and "The Prelude" was begun there. In one "Lucy" poem called "I Traveled Among Unknown Men," William wrote, "I travell"d among unknown men,/ In lands beyond the sea;/ Nor England! Did I know till then,/ What love I bore to thee." Within these lines Wordsworth introduces the reader to the fact that he is traveling throughout places other than England and becoming familiar with new lands. William gained a big interest in the French Revolution on his second trip to the continent of Europe. William joined the fighters for freedom and as a result, his family stopped sending him money because they disagreed with William's choice. Wordsworth's romantic relationships as well as his ties with Dorothy and Coleridge were very consuming and affected his poetry immensely.