Saturday, November 20, 2004

Preface to Lyrical Ballads

I have had a fondness for William Wordsworth’s Writing ever since ' The Ruined Cottage '. He would arguably be my favorite poet, and thus one of the reasons why I am taking this course. This is my fourth time reading Preface, so I am accustomed to the language, themes and variations in the text. Preface is a perfect example of a Manifesto. When one thinks of an ordinary preface, one assumes that the writer addresses the content of the work that he/she puts forth. This is not exactly the case with Wordsworth's Preface. Wordsworth ironically abuses this assumption to platform his theory on poesy ( but he asserts that he only did this because he was persuaded by his colleagues).

One of Wordsworth’s most famous lines “ for all good poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings ”, elicits the question: so what is good poetry ? Wordsworth’s main argument is that the Contemporary Poet confuses his readers who “ frequently have to struggle with feelings of strangeness and awkwardness ” (596). He believes that poets try to flatter themselves by using rhetorical language in a way that only further distances the reader from the poem. Wordsworth offers an alternative, he states that the best language to use is the ‘ language used by men ’; Plain, simple language that incorporated a lot of imagery, would present “ ordinary things…in an unusual way ”(597). This was the optimal process according to Wordsworth, for in doing so the poet would be creating a sort of dialectical engine known as the sublime.

I think that Wordsworth appeals to a lot of readers because he empathetically identified the gaudiness of poetry that was apparent at the time. He was able to appeal to an audience because they enjoyed the simplicity of his poetry. Interestingly enough, many critics argue that Wordsworth is in fact guilty of the blemishes in poetry that he himself addresses. I think it was very difficult for Wordsworth to shake off his critics because his argument was a slap in the face for so many of the modern poets, and Wordsworth’s predecessors. To enact everything that the Preface praises, and to avoid the corruptive elements that the Preface dissuades would be a very difficult task for any poet.

All in all (see I wrote a cliché ...), I strongly agree with Wordsworth’s argument, and so far it is my favorite essay on poesy.

Ciao!

1 Comments:

Blogger Coconut77 said...

“for all good poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings”i completely agree, this is a fantastic quote. But it also makes me wonder, if someone is reading the poem and is not overflowed by feelings, is the poem still powerful?
(sorry if that makes no sense at all)

I agree with what you said about Wordsworth popularity (simplicity, etc), but I also believe a huge factor was because he wrote about the everyday man (like Professor Kuin has said). Wordsworth is not writing about some person he made in his mind, this person is real and this allows a lot of people to relate.

Wordsworth has definetly been enjoyable!

andrea :)

8:54 PM  

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