Bridge Course - Wordsworth Preface

Bridge Course - Wordsworth Preface 

 Hello readers! Here I am going to write down an another blog on william wordsworth's preface to lyrical ballads. This blog is inspired by Dr. Dilip sir barad as a part of thinking activity. In this blog, I am sharing my understanding about this topic. I am answering to some allotted questions on the basis of my learning and knowledge. 

William Wordsworth:-

 

William Wordsworth, (born April 7, 1770, Cockermouth, Cumberland, England—died April 23, 1850, Rydal Mount, Westmorland), English poet whose Lyrical Ballads (1798), written with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped launch the English Romantic movement.Wordsworth's magnum opus is generally considered to be The Prelude, a semi-autobiographical poem of his early years that he revised and expanded a number of times. It was posthumously titled and published by his wife in the year of his death, before which it was generally known as "the poem to Coleridge".

Wordsworth was Poet Laureate from 1843 until his death from pleurisy on 23 April 1850.

Wordsworth's preface to lyrical ballads.

               Wordsworth explains that the first edition of Lyrical Ballads was published as a sort of experiment to test the public reception of poems that use “the real language of men in a state of vivid sensation.” The experiment was successful, better than Wordsworth was expecting, and many were pleased with the poems. Wordsworth acknowledges that his friend (Samuel Taylor Coleridge) supplied several poems in the collection, including Rime of the Ancient Mariner. He then relates that he and his friends wish to start a new type of poetry, poetry of the sort seen in Lyrical Ballads. Wordsworth notes that he was initially unwilling to write the preface as some sort of systemic defense of this new genre, because he doesn’t want to reason anyone into liking these poems. He also says the motives behind starting this new genre of poetry are too complex to fully articulate in so few words. Still, he has decided to furnish a preface: his poems are so different from the poems of his age that they require at least a brief explanation as to their conception.

1.What is the basic difference between the poetic creed of 'classicism and 'Romanticism '?

Classicism and Romanticism are artistic movements that have influenced the literature, visual art, music, and architecture of the Western world over many centuries. With its origins in the ancient Greek and Roman societies, Classicism defines beauty as that which demonstrates balance and order. Romanticism developed in the 18th century — partially as a reaction against the ideals of Classicism — and expresses beauty through imagination and powerful emotions. Although the characteristics of these movements are frequently at odds, both schools of thought continued to influence Western art into the 21st century.

The name "Classical" was given to the Greeks and Romans retroactively by Renaissance writers. Artists and thinkers of the Renaissance, which literally means "rebirth," saw themselves as the heirs of that world following the Middle Ages. Its ideals continued to exert strong influence into the Age of Enlightenment in the 17th and 18th centuries.

In literature, Classicism values traditional forms and structures. According to legend, the Roman poet Virgil left orders for his masterpiece The Aeneid to be burned at his death, because a few of its lines were still metrically imperfect. This rather extreme example demonstrates the importance placed on excellence in formal execution. Such attention to detail can also be seen in the work of the Italian poet Dante Alighieri, whose Divine Comedy contains over 14,000 lines written in a strict rhyming pattern known as terza rima. Other characteristics of the movement include balance, order, and emotional restraint.

Romanticism may be a somewhat confusing term, since modern English speakers tend to associate the word "romance" with a particular variety of love. As an artistic movement, however, it celebrates all strong emotions, not just feelings of love. In addition to emotion, Romantic artists valued the search for beauty and meaning in all aspects of life. They saw imagination, rather than reason, as the route to truth.

The treatment of emotion is one of the primary ways in which Classicism and Romanticism differ. The Romantics placed a higher value on the expression of strong emotion than on technical perfection. Classicists did not shy away from describing emotionally charged scenes, but typically did so in a more distant manner. Romantics, however, were more likely to indulge in effusive emotional statements, as John Keats did in "Ode on a Grecian Urn": "More love! More happy, happy love!"

2.Why does Wordsworth say 'What is a poet'? rather than Who is the Poet?

 In his preface Wordsworth says 'What is poet? rather than Who is the poet. 

According to Wordsworth " A poet is a man speaking to men, endowed with more lively sensibility, more enthusiasm and tenderness. Who has a greater knowledge of human nature and a more comprehensive soul, who rejoices more than other men in the spirit of life; habitually impelled to creative volition, passion and situation where he does not find them.

A poet not only has a more lively sensibility but also a more comprehensive soul and greater powers of imagination. He is also a man who has thought long and deep. He does not create on the spur of the moment, but contemplates and reflects in tranquillity till he passions anew and it is then that creation begins.

  

3.What is poetic diction ? Which sort of Poetic diction is suggested by Wordsworth in his preface?

The term diction refers to the kind of words, phrases, sentences, and sometimes figurative language that constitute any work of literature. When it comes to poetry writing, the question related to the diction always arises. The question of diction is considered as primary because the feelings of the poet must be easily conceived by the readers. The poets of all ages have used distinctive poetic diction.

He defines poetic diction as a language of common men. It is not the language of the poet as a class but the language of mankind. It is the simple expression of pure passions by men living close to nature. The poetic language is the natural language; therefore, it must be spontaneous and instinctive. The real poetic diction, in the view of Wordsworth, is the natural overflow of the feelings, therefore, it is immune to the deliberate decoration of the language.

Wordsworth also attributes the quality of giving pleasure to the natural poetic diction. It must not contain any vulgarity and disgusting elements. The poet must, through his language, elevate nature and human feelings.

4.What is Poetry?

Definition:-

poetry, literature that evokes a concentrated imaginative awareness of experience or a specific emotional response through language chosen and arranged for its meaning, sound, and rhythm.

  " Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings it takes origin from emotion recollected in tranquility. "

Wordsworth

Poetry is to teach moral lessons with a feeling of delight. It is to give instruction and delight by connecting people with the poet and his imagination.

5.What is poetry? Discuss ' Daffodils ' - " Wandered as a lonely cloud " With reference to wordsworth's poetic creed. 

I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o’er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine

And twinkle on the Milky Way,

They stretched in never-ending line

Along the margin of a bay:

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced, but they

Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:

A poet could not but be gay,

In such a jocund company:

I gazed—and gazed—but little thought

What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils.

The poem I wondered lonely as a cloud also know as Daffodils. The poem does describe the beauty and power of the flowers. Daffodils ultimately turns out to be a beautiful, dramatic lyric on the poets spiritual conversation in the company of nature. Daffodils based on a real life experience of the poet and his sister Dorothy helps him to write it. This poem was composed in 1807.

The poet narrates his experience when he used to wander as a cloud on the highest pick of hills and vales. During his wandering he happened to see a lot of yellow flowers which tall stems and long narrow leaves. They were Daffodils. There were spread around lake, beneath the trees. When he saw the Daffodils he feels like Daffodils are dancing with the breeze. It also shows that daffodils enriches the beauty of nature. Than Wordsworth compared daffodils with shining star. In a milky way there are thousands of stars like that there were large number of Daffodils. The Daffodils were becoming more and more beautiful and shining brightly with flashes of light. 

In last the poet says his personal experience. When he is alone lying in his sofa and having serious mood, suddenly he thinks of his past experience of looking Daffodils. This experience gives him a lot of pressure, bliss and happiness. He immediately forgets that he is alone and having serious mood. And that's how he tells us that only nature has that capacity to convert human being from unhappiness to highest bliss. 

Through this poem and brief introduction of the poem that what in this poem and how it came to existence clearly shows the poetic creed of Wordsworth. His belief that poetry must be with full of emotions and spontaneity. He described his highest emotions in this poem.