Preface lyrical ballads pdf

London: Longman, This is the only edition to print both the original collection and the expanded edition, with Wordsworth's famous Preface. It includes important letters, a wide-ranging introduction and generous notes. Michael Gamer suggests Wordsworth's criticism of the Gothic was largely instigated by Coleridge; see Romanticism and the Gothic: Genre, Brett, A.

Such verses have been triumphed over in Wordsworth's Preface to Lyrical Ballads , ed. Owen, p. And this is what Lyrical Ballads is all about. Mackerness Plymouth: The Guernsey Press, , Butler and Green, ; aEssay, Supplementary to the Preface «, ed. Owen and Smyser , III, Baker, VII: In Two Volumes, in Lyrical Ballads : and , ed. Owen, W. Owen, IX, W. Literary Criticism of William Wordsworth , ed. Zall , Lincoln , Neb. Lyrical Ballads , : ed. The late-Neoclassical poets believe that the lofty poetry they write bring them as well as poetry itself honor.

Furthermore, they constantly and randomly change the style of their poetry to suit their own ever-changing tastes. Wordsworth views this sort of ignorance and inconstancy as self-serving. On the other hand, Wordsworth states that triviality and lack of profound thought is a larger problem than lofty language among his contemporary poets. The poet is, in a sense, elevated from their peers. Wordsworth believes that poetry ought to be serious and profound—poems need to have a purpose and cannot be intended purely for shallow entertainment.

Emotions are, for Wordsworth, a very serious and profound subject. At the same time, emotions cannot be separated from thoughts, as the two are inextricably tied together. Thus, readers can infer that good poetry should seriously deal with both emotions and thoughts. This sort of poetry will help people become better people. Poetry and Emotions. Wordsworth then cites a few of his ballads and relays how those particular poems follow this purpose.

In other words, feelings are the most important aspect to any experience. Modernity leads humans to crave sensationalism and instant gratification. The Industrial Revolution and its accompanying technological progress led people to crave instant gratification, which, in turn, led writers to use sensationalism to cater to this craving.

It is important to note that Wordsworth does not disapprove of drama per se, as he considers Shakespeare and Milton—both are writers who engage dramatic subjects—to be great writers; rather, he disapproves of drama for the sake of drama. In order to counteract the excessive drama that his contemporaries employ, Wordsworth intends to use nature to bring readers back to their senses. Wordsworth turns to the subject of style.

He finds abstract ideas to be distancing—it gives readers the sense that what they are reading about is intangible and does not apply to real life. Wordsworth also expresses frustration that many poetic phrases have become hackneyed from overuse and have lost their original meaning. Wordsworth reiterates that there is no essential difference between the language of poetry and the language of prose.

However, through his beautiful use of poetic language in this personification, Wordsworth demonstrates that he is perfectly capable of writing in the lofty style used by his late-Neoclassical contemporaries. In the Lyrical Ballads , he does not write in common language out of necessity, but out of choice.

Furthermore, poetry and prose are, in essence, the same. Why, then, has Wordsworth chosen to write poetry instead of prose? Simply because he finds metrical language more charming. To those who criticize Wordsworth for using rhyme and meter but not poetic diction, he replies that readers have read with pleasure poems with simpler language than the language in his ballads.

Wordsworth chooses to submit to the rules of meter because both poet and reader have to adhere. In the case of common language versus poetic diction, the poet and reader would be on level ground when it comes to the former, but the reader would be utterly subject to the whims of the poet in the case of the latter. This is unfair to the reader and can make it difficult for the reader to truly understand what the poet is trying to say. Also, Wordsworth simply finds meter charming for aesthetic reasons.

Even the simplest of things, when conveyed in meter, carry a certain charm. Furthermore, he is so free in terms of choosing his subject that the small restraint of meter appears to be nothing in comparison. Furthermore, readers generally associate certain types of meter with certain emotions. Wordsworth realizes that the subject of his poetry can be overwhelming and may be difficult for the reader to deal with; thus, his use of rhyme and meter will give the reader a sense of familiarity that will make the overwhelming sense of foreignness more bearable.

From this, readers can gather that Wordsworth does not believe any negative emotion should be the chief emotion a reader experiences when reading poetry. The main emotion that readers experience should always be positive and pleasurable. In general, Wordsworth seems to dismiss any nonsensical declaration with the claim that it is too long to explain, as seen here.

Wordsworth proceeds to explain the process of poetic creation. Then the poet can begin the composition process, and the poet will feel pleasure. The poet must always be careful that readers of their poem will feel more pleasure than the deeper passions that the poem addresses. People tend to read poetry, and not prose, over and over again because of this pleasure. They must first contemplate their emotion in peace to achieve a proper understanding of what they felt before engaging in the writing process.

Poetry written in the heat of the moment may be too overwhelming for the reader. In this way, Wordsworth reiterates the idea that it is important not to overwhelm the reader—reading poetry must be a pleasurable experience. Wordsworth addresses possible faults of his ballads: he may have written on an unworthy subject, and he may have made arbitrary connections between things that no one would understand except himself. He is not sure yet which of his expressions are faulty; thus, he refrains from correcting anything.

Wordsworth believes that a poet who corrects his own work too often could easily lose his or her confidence. Furthermore, the imperfect reader may also perceive certain poems as faulty when they are actually fine. He admits that some of his ballads may have faults, but at the same time, he makes it impossible for the reader to accuse his poetry of many faults by saying that the reader, too, has faults. There is one fault that Wordsworth assures readers they will never find in his poetry: the fault of writing about a trivializing poetry.

Through quoting and analyzing these two poems by Johnson, Wordsworth shows that it is the subject, not the meter, of a poem that decides whether it is trivial. Overall, Wordsworth takes poetry, as well as prefaces to poetic works, very seriously—poetry must be written after a serious emotional experience, after serious contemplation, and in a serious manner.

Even poetry written in simple ballad meter ought not to be lampooned, or satirized. Wordsworth considers this sort of satire a wrongful way to engage in criticism. If one is to criticize poetry, one must do so in a serious, thoughtful manner.