THINKING ACTIVITY ON WORDS WORTH PREFACE TO LYRICAL BALLADS

 Introduction:

Preface to the Lyrical Ballads, written by William Wordsworth, is a landmark essay in the history of English Literature. Considered to be the Romantic Manifesto on poetry and society, the Preface is a work that is crucial to our understanding of the progress of Romantic literary thought, originating in 18th century Europe, which has been immortalised in our view of poetry and how we think of it today.

Historical Background

The Preface to the Lyrical Ballads first appeared in the 2nd edition of the poetry collection Lyrical Ballads (1801) and later expanded in the 3rd edition (1802). 

 The Backdrop of the Neoclassicals – Neoclassical works were known for their adherence to rules and regulations of satire and their strict definitions of what is poetry. Their language was far from what people used in daily conversations and they spoke of extraordinary subjects. Neoclassicism was followed by Romanticism.

Rise of Romanticism – Romanticism is different from romanticism (notice the capital ‘R’ vs. the lower-case ‘r’) Romanticism was a movement which sought to break away from old norms and beliefs by revolutionising the way people thought about society in 18th century Europe.

Main ideas of preface to lyrical ballad

Wordsworth’s relation to Nature/Countryside Wordsworth is celebrated as the nature poet because of his beautiful descriptions of nature and rural/countryside areas. However, to reduce his work to just an imitation of trees and flowers would be immature.

Admiration of  nature by wordsworth 

Wordsworth admired nature/countryside not only because it looked beautiful, but because of the simplicity and beauty that nature/countryside provided allowed people to be in touch with their soul and experience true beauty in life. Wordsworth believed that the city life made the masses dull and stagnant – it had reduced them to overworked machines who failed to appreciate the simple beauty of life. He called this state of mental stagnancy a savage torpor.

Who is poet as per Wordsworth 

For Wordsworth, a poet is simply “a man speaking to men” – a fellow human just like all of us trying to communicate his perception and experience of truth and beauty. However, the poet differs from regular people because of his higher sensitivity to the happenings around him and a deeper connection with his own feelings, moods and emotions as they arise in response to these outer happenings.

Concept/Definition  of poetry as per wordsworth:

Wordsworth famously defined poetry as “a spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings which are recollected in tranquillity”. Simply speaking, the highly sensitive poet is able to experience the beauty of ordinary life, capture his own emotions as they arise and is finally able to sit in a calm, peaceful space to use his imagination to recollect these emotions and finally write about them.

What should be language of poem as per Wordsworth?

Wordsworth believed that the “real language of men” – ordinary daily language – should be used to write poetry. However, Wordsworth refined this common language to a purer form without losing the essence of its simplicity.