Preface to the Lyrical Ballads by William Wordsworth as a manifesto of Romantic Criticism

Preface to the Lyrical Ballads

William Wordsworth

Q. Preface to the Lyrical Ballads by William Wordsworth as a manifesto of Romantic Criticism –Discuss.

Answer: "Preface to the Lyrical Ballads" is a collection of Wordsworth's poems. Wordsworth wrote “Preface to the Lyrical Ballads” at a time when England was experiencing deep urbanization, industrialization, and a movement towards the media and mass culture. In an article, Wordsworth fears that these factors could dull the human mind and thus support the poetic revolution. At the same time, Wordsworth carefully warns that poetry, though emotional, should be the product of earlier thought and acquired skills. His frustration with the French Revolution took him away from the notion of unreasonable emotion a decade before he wrote the " Preface to the Lyrical Ballads " - that emotion should be re-collected and processed "in peace" before it is expressed.

Over the years, Wordsworth's “Preface to the Lyrical Ballads " has been seen as a manifesto of the Romantic movement in England. In it, Wordsworth gives reason of writing such experimental ballads. Also, he shows the way how he does it. In contrast to the hybrid poetry of his contemporaries, the late-neoclassical author, Wordsworth's poetry is concerned with the life of the peasant in the lyrical ballad and is written in ordinary language.

Wordsworth was alone in his efforts. He wrote lyrical ballads in collaboration of his good friend, Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Wordsworth wants to explore the novelty in the field of poetry that will be embroidered with the rural lives of common people. Wordsworth has found that ordinary people are less restrained and more honest because they are closely associated with the beauty of nature. This new book of poetry will also use the language of the common people, because this language carries a certain universality and permanence, there is no fluency in the composition of poetry.

Wordsworth thinks that the poetry of his contemporaries is much more trivial and indigent relying on sensitivity to appeal to readers. Along with modern industrialization and urbanization, this type of poetry dulls the minds of readers. To Wordsworth, good poetry should have no purpose other than surface entertainment. Wordsworth's ballads aim to give cosmic readers an experience of the perceptions of nature so that they can resurrect from the mind-blowing aspects of modernity.

Wordsworth also attaches great importance to emotions. Indeed, in poetry, feelings are more important than plot and action - he writes that "all good poetry is a spontaneous overflow of emotion" which "takes its source from emotion in peaceful remembrance." It is important that the poet restores his emotions calmly, because this time allows the poet to incorporate not only emotions, but also deep thoughts into their compositions to reflect on the experience. Poetry should be a profound experience. Wordsworth despises the triviality of poetry: No matter how simple the meter of poetry is, the contents of poetry should still be taken seriously by the poet and the reader alike.

In addition to these broader ideas about poetry, Wordsworth also digs briefly for the importance of the meter. Wordsworth noted that he chose to write poetry and not prose because the meter adds a certain charm to the work.

Furthermore, the regularity of the meter can help the emotion that can become too much if the work is written with the stylistic freedom of the game. Wordsworth concludes "Preface to the Lyrical Ballads" that he can do nothing but let the reader feel his own ballads for himself.

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👉 Preface to Lyrical Ballads as a manifesto of Romantic Criticism