For all good poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: but though this be true, Poems to which any value can be attached, were never produced on any variety of subjects but by a man, who being possessed of more than usual organic sensibility, had also thought long and deeply. Byron, on the other hand. Many of these poems are cautionary tales encouraging kindness and empathy, and the rest are extolling the virtues of nature. I might perhaps include all which it is necessary to say upon this subject by affirming, what few persons will deny, that, of two descriptions, either of passions, manners, or characters, each of them equally well executed, the one in prose and the other in verse, the verse will be read a hundred times where the prose is read once. Writers such as Alexander Pope and Samuel Johnson, for example, produced poems that tend to adhere to strict, formal metrical patterns, use complicated poetic diction, and emphasize the importance of logic and rational thought.
The changes that occurred during the Industrial Revolution forced a large number of people to move from the countryside to overcrowded cities, where they experienced poverty, poor working conditions, and sickness. While Shakespeare's writings, in the most pathetic scenes, never act upon us as pathetic beyond the bounds of pleasure an effect which, in a much greater degree than might at first be imagined, is to be ascribed to small, but continual and regular impulses of pleasurable surprise from the metrical arrangement. Taking up the subject, then, upon general grounds, I ask what is meant by the word Poet? At first glance, these two are quite opposite to each other—the one is coming on a sudden, and the other deliberately called to memory—but Wordsworth makes no difference between two and tries to explain one by the other. But supposing that this were not the case, the Poet might then be allowed to use a peculiar language, when expressing his feelings for his own gratification, or that of men like himself. He roams through the landscape seemingly unaffected by the troubles of the world and mortality. Others who pursue a different track will interest him likewise; I do not interfere with their claim, but wish to prefer a claim of my own.
English Literature: Wordsworth Preface to the Lyrical Ballads
It bridges time so well, from ancient myths and tales of horror to the gothic imagery of the time and even to slasher, apocalyptic movies in the present. Apparently that preface wasn't written until later editions since this book doesn't have a copy of it. Long as the Reader has been detained, I hope he will permit me to caution him against a mode of false criticism which has been applied to Poetry, in which the language closely resembles that of life and nature. But supposing that this were not the case, the Poet might then be allowed to use a peculiar language when expressing his feelings for his own gratification, or that of men like himself. Poetry is not dependent upon rhetorical and literary devices, but is the free expression of the poet's thought and feeling. I've just spent an entire semester talking about this book, so I know these poems quite well. Title page of the first edition.
There is an early edition of Rime of the Ancient Mariner that isn't as good as the version I remember from college which I dearly loved. Humble and rustic life was generally chosen, because, in that condition, the essential passions of the heart find a better soil in which they can attain their maturity, are less under restraint, and speak a plainer and more emphatic language; because in that condition of life our elementary feelings coexist in a state of greater simplicity, and, consequently, may be more accurately contemplated, and more forcibly communicated; because the manners of rural life germinate from those elementary feelings, and, from the necessary character of rural occupations, are more easily comprehended, and are more durable; and, lastly, because in that condition the passions of men are incorporated with the beautiful and permanent forms of nature. I surprisingly really enjoyed some of the poems in this text, especially 'The Thorn', 'The Brothers' and 'We Are Seven'. Poetry is the first and last of all knowledge—it is as immortal as the heart of man. If my conclusions are admitted, and carried as far as they must be carried if admitted at all, our judgements concerning the works of the greatest Poets both ancient and modern will be far different from what they are at present, both when we praise, and when we censure: and our moral feelings influencing and influenced by these judgements will, I believe, be corrected and purified. Tanka: - Japanese nature poem - 5 Lines - Line 1 has 5 syllables - Line 2 has 7 syllables - Line 3 has 5 syllables - Line 4 has 7 syllables - Line 5. When you read Romantic poetry, pay close attention to the common themes of nature and imagination and the undecorated, simplistic language, qualities that are central to Lyrical Ballads and demonstrate its lasting influence.
Again, this is making the political point that poetry is for everyone, that all men and women are capable of feeling deeply and responding to the world around them, not just the gentry. Wordsworth wrote timeless poems of nature and beauty, but perhaps his most important contribution was that he claimed poetry for the common people. To this tendency of life and manners the literature and theatrical exhibitions of the country have conformed themselves. A sense of false modesty shall not prevent me from asserting, that the ReaderÂ’s attention is pointed to this mark of distinction, far less for the sake of these particular Poems than from the general importance of the subject. Wordsworth began publishing in 1793, at the age of 23, with a collection of poetry about a tour he took in the Swiss Alps - Descriptive Sketches. During the first year that Mr. Nor let this necessity of producing immediate pleasure be considered as a degradation of the PoetÂ’s art.
Wordsworth asserts that there is essentially no difference between the language of prose and metrical composition. Wordsworth was England's Poet Laureate from 1843 until his death in 1850. If my conclusions are admitted, and carried as far as they must be carried if admitted at all, our judgments concerning the works of the greatest Poets both ancient and modern will be far different from what they are at present, both when we praise, and when we censure: and our moral feelings influencing, and influenced by these judgments will, I believe, be corrected and purified. For all good poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: and though this be true, Poems to which any value can be attached were never produced on any variety of subjects but by a man who, being possessed of more than usual organic sensibility, had also thought long and deeply. The landscaping varieties of influences that provoked Wordsworth's inner child to sing out heart in Lyrical Ballads of first editions of 1798 as well as 1800.
It is the image of man and nature. They both speak by and to the same organs; the bodies in which both of them are clothed may be said to be of the same substance, their affections are kindred, and almost identical, not necessarily differing even in degree; Poetry sheds no tears Â’such as Angels weep,Â’ but natural and human tears; she can boast of no celestial choir that distinguishes her vital juices from those of prose; the same human blood circulates through the veins of them both. It is the most philosophic of all writings: its object is truth, not individual and local, but general and operative. The earliest Poets of all nations generally wrote from passion excited by real events; they wrote naturally, and as men: feeling powerfully as they did, their language was daring and figurative. Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep. In spite of difference of soil and climate, of language and manners, of laws and customs: in spite of things silently gone out of mind, and things violently destroyed; the Poet binds together by passion and knowledge the vast empire of human society, as it is spread over the whole earth, and over all time.
Wordsworth defends the unusual style and subjects of the poems some of them may have been actually composed by Samuel Taylor Coleridge as experiments to see how far and accurately popular poetry could be used to convey profound feeling. He even argues that engineering is better than science because it applies scientific knowledge to make things useful. A very accessible, readable and entertaining collection of classic poetry which has aged very well, Lyrical Ballads is made up of 4 Coleridge poems and many others by Wordsworth. Many of the poems are by Wordsworth. The first four lines are poorly expressed; some Critics would call the language prosaic; the fact is, it would be bad prose, so bad, that it is scarcely worse in metre. In this mood successful composition generally begins, and in a mood similar to this it is carried on; but the emotion, of whatever kind, and in whatever degree, from various causes, is qualified by various pleasures, so that in describing any passions whatsoever, which are voluntarily described, the mind will, upon the whole, be in a state of enjoyment. Much to my surprise, I found most of the poems to be easily accessible, albeit, I took many notes to help me keep track of the narrative structure.
