Wordsworth preface

            Wordsworth’s  Preface to

                Lyrical Ballads 

                                Sunday Reading Task   

     

       This Blogspot is in response to the Sunday reading task on Bridge Course of Wordsworth’s Preface to The Lyrical Ballads . This Task is given by Barad sir.  I am going to write a blogspot about my understanding of the Wordsworth  preface.

                            The Publication of “ The Lyrical Ballads” in 1798 was a landmark in the history of the Romantic movement in England. 

               * Difference between Classicism and Romanticism 

                                       

                  The term ‘Classicism’  is a very broad term and it refers to the literature of the Age of Dryden , Pope , Johnson . The word ‘classicism’ has many meanings. Generally this word is used to mean a very ancient form of art, perfection in art, in form , in style, etc.

 

                    The word 'Classical' also means the art created in ancient Greece . The romantic tendency came back in literature towards the end of the 19th century.  The writers of that period were Wordsworth , S.T.Coleridge , John Keats , Byron , P.B.Shelley and Scott. During the Victorian period the romantic tendency continued to dominate literature , but the 20th century showed the signs of the classical tendency. 

           Poetry should follow Exact rules. In this way literature was governed more and more by rules and regulations. In the beginning of the period the results were quite amazing particularly in the prose works of the period  and lost its charm and literature became dull, dry, and monotonous. 

      

                   The literature of the Classical age differs from Elizabethan romanticism in three aspects - Versification , Subject matter and Diction . 

•     Dominance of Reason

                             

                                  Literature of the classical age is perfectly dominated  by reason or intellect. It is mainly didactic, argumentative , a criticism of politics and personalities. 

•   Represent of Town life    

            

            The literature of the time showed no love of nature, landscape, country things and people. The humbler aspects of life were totally neglected from their literature. They regarded urban life as the best life and perfectly fit for poetic purposes.

•   Lacks of Romantic Spirit

           The classical literature reflects the type of spirit that is against romantic spirit or elements. Great classical writers like Alexander pope, John Dryden, and  Johnson.  The critical taste was completely unsympathetic towards Chaucer, Spenser, and even Shakespeare. This type of critical view to romantic literature and art is reflected everywhere  in contemporary time. 

•  The heroic Couplet 

               The Heroic couplet consists of two iambic pentameters rhyming together.  In England, It was first used by Chaucer in “The Canterbury Tales”.  Dryden used heroic couplets for all purposes other than those of romantic poetry. However , It was left to Alexander pope to perfect the couplet. He used it in all his significant poems like, “The Rape of Lock” , “Essay on Man” , “The Essay on Criticism” , “The Dunciad”. It is called the ‘ closed couplet’ because of the sense of couplet , Instead of it from Couplet to Couplet. Dryden was the master of it. He confined the sense more vigorously than ever within the two lines.  For example, 

                       We think our fathers fools, so wise we grow,

                       Our wiser sons , no doubt, will think us so. 

           

Romanticism 

                 The Romantic movement was in the nature of a strong protest against the 18th century classical tendencies of correctness , adherence to rules, appeal to reason and intellect and dominance of the heroic couplet. The romantic tendencies of the later 18th century poets such as Chatterson , Burns, and Blake.

                 Romanticism has been variously defined and the definitions of romanticism offered by Walter Pater and Watts Dunton are among the popular ones.  Watt Dunton defines it as “The Renaissance of Wonder”.  Peter's romanticism is “Addition of Strangeness to Beauty”. Abercrombie, Romanticism is a withdrawal from outer experience to concentrate upon inner experience. Victor Hugo describes it as “Liberalism in Literature”. 

              To understand it completely and comprehensively it is necessary to know its salient features and certain factors which are responsible for the birth and growth of Romanticism.  

•  Reaction against set rules

                 Romantic poetry was written in direct contrast to the characteristics cultivated by the Classical English poets. The poetry of the school of Dryden , Pope and Johnson was mainly the product of intelligence. The Romantic Poets sought inspiration and guidance from Spenser, Shakespeare and Milton. In this way romantic poetry differs from classical poetry.

•   Escape to the Middle Ages  

                          Medievalism was a prominent characteristic of the Romantic movement. Many of the romantic poets turned towards the middle ages for inspiration and novelty . All romantic poets were not medievalists , yet a great number of them, Coleridge , Keats and Scott- sought inspiration from the middle ages. Capture of the medieval atmosphere of mystery , magic, superstition, supernaturalism , terror, love of adventure and Romance. Coleridge’s “ Christabel”, Keats “ The Eve of st. Agnes”, “Isabella” and “ La Belle Dame Sans Merci” are suffered with the mediaeval atmosphere.

•     Return to nature and Country life  

        

                      In the poetry of romantic revival the interest of the poets was transferred from town to country life and from artificial decorations of drawing rooms to the beauty and loveliness of nature. Instead of dealing with the glamours of city life, the romantics deal with the joys of nature. They depicted the lives of the common people , shepherds and cottagers , wood cutters , farmers and labourers in a language as close as possible to ordinary speech. They wrote about A Skylark, A Cuckoo, A Solitary Reaper, Daffodils.

 

                                          Comparison

        Classicism                          -                     Romanticism 

• Citi life                                                                  Town life                                                                    

• Greek Roman influence                                Mediaeval influence

• Harmony                                                           Emotions

• Renaissance style                                          Imaginations , Idealism

•  Rational law of nature                               Nature as mystery 

• Formal                                                                Informal

*What is a Poet & What does a poet do ?

          A poet is a man speaking to man, 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 then other man in the spirit of  life,  habitually impelled to creative volitions, passions and situations where he does not  find them.

                  Poets, although romantics place a lot of importance on the inherent talent within a person to come up with poetry. Poet is a person who does not come from any other planet. 

*What is poetic Diction? 

                   Poetic diction is a choice of words which lead to a unique style for each individual poet or author. Wordsworth published Lyrical Ballads in 1798, he offered an anthology and experiments. He was not satisfied by what goes on in the name of poetry. 

        Wordsworth mentioned in the preface that diction was inane that was highly unnecessarily ornamental erudite and consequently this erudition was only limited to city dwellers. The Distinction between country side and  country life. 

 Thank You…

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