Preface to Lyrical Ballads

 Sajida Parveen 

• 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.”

• 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.From this, readers can gather that Wordsworth lived in an era when things were growing increasingly complex with the onset of modernity.

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• Wordsworth claims that just as authors have a right to use certain ideas and techniques, they also have a right to exclude other ideas and techniques. In every age, different styles of poetry arise, and people expect different things from poetry. He goes on to cite many great yet different poets of old, from Catullus Terence to Alexander Pope.Wordsworth writes differently from his contemporaries not because he is lazy, but because he senses that the changing times need a new style of poetry to match.

• the language of the peasantry is pure, as common people are in constant communication with nature and far away from “social vanity.”

• Wordsworth’s decision to use common life and language in his poetry implies that upper-class life and lofty language are insufficient for poetic expression. Throughout the preface, Wordsworth seems to equate cosmopolitanism with corruption.

• Wordsworth perceives many things to be wrong with the late neo-classical poets and their lofty language: “they separate themselves from the sympathies of men, and indulge in arbitrary capricious habits of expression in order to furnish food for fickle tastes and fickle appetites of their own creation.”

• Wordsworth believes that if someone continuously observes and contemplates their feelings, they will be enlightened, develop better taste, and have their “affections ameliorated”; someone who processes their feelings will become a better person. This process of observance and profound thought is necessary, as the poet must have their “taste exalted”.

• Wordsworth believes that poetry ought to be serious and profound—poems need to have a purpose and cannot be intended purely for shallow entertainment.

• Wordsworth then declares the purpose of his poems: “to illustrate the manner in which our feelings and ideas are associated under a state of excitement,” or, more specifically, “to follow the fluxes and refluxes of the mind when agitated by the great and simple affections of our nature.”

• . He declares that “the feeling [developed in his poems] gives importance to the action and situation, and not the action and situation to the feeling.” He claims that readers will understand his statement better after reading two of his ballads, “Poor Susan” and “Childless Father.”

• Wordsworth strongly believes that “the human mind is capable of excitement without the application of gross and violent stimulants.” It is the writer’s job “to produce or enlarge this capability,”

• 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. Instead of bending to this trend, Wordsworth calls upon the reader’s sensibility so that they can find appeal in the commonest of things.

• Wordsworth demystifies poetry by suggesting that it many ways, it’s just prose written in meter. From his perspective, there is no reason not to use “prosaisms,” especially if they can convey profound thought and feeling. By citing Gray’s “On the Death of Richard West,” Wordsworth demonstrates that sometimes, prosaic language can be much more effective than poetic language in a poem.

• Wordsworth asks readers to form their own feelings and opinions, and not go by what others think, when judging his poetry.

• his poetry is better and offers pleasure “of a purer, more lasting, and more exquisite nature.” It is not his intention to denounce other forms of poetry; rather, Wordsworth wishes to promote a new genre of poetry that he feels will help keep humans human.

• The “Preface” is often considered a manifesto of the Romantic movement in English literature. Wordsworth explains his intention in his poems to express incidents from everyday life in everyday language and imbued with poetic sentiment. He defines poetry as a “spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings” (13) and the poet as “a man speaking to men” (8). Because poetry speaks of universal human emotions, it should use diction that is natural rather than artificial and self-consciously literary. Thus, Wordsworth sets himself apart from classicist poets who addressed an elite audience in language that was tied to formal rules. Wordsworth argues that poetry and prose should be close in style and that the aim of poetry should be to imitate nature and inspire emotion in the reader in a way that emphasizes pleasure. In the final part of the essay, Wordsworth outlines the procedure whereby a poet may observe the world around them and compose poetry through deep reflection on their experiences.