183 disappointment with the writers of his period.
SELF ASSESMENT EXERCISE 4
Which other literary theorist pays attention to criticism and how is his view different from Wordsworth‘s?
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questions serially. The question and answer style makes it easy for the reader to identify his concern and follow his argument.
Furthermore, ‗Preface to Lyrical Ballads‘ employs repetition. Wordsworth‘s definition of good poetry in page 243 is repeated in page 253 again his proposal on the impact of literature in page 252 is repeated in page 253. Again, Wordsworth uses examples to communicate his theory. For instance, he draws his examples from poets of different periods and regions including Terence, Shakespeare, Fletcher, Dryden, Pope, in his discussion on verse. Again, he uses Gray‘s Sonnet to discuss use of language in prose and poetic representations as he illustrates the abiding relationship between different genres of literature. The use of examples functions to concretize Wordsworth‘s ideas and thus facilitates effective communication.
Wordsworth‘s thesis is partly cast in figurative language. For instance, prose and poetry are personified to illustrate the similarity between both. Thus, ―the bodies in which both of them are clothed may be said to be the same substance, their affections are kindred‖ (246). Moreover, in describing the nature and functions of poetry and poets, he uses a lot of natural images and agricultural metaphors – soil, climate, rock, breath, earth (249, 250). This style appears like a deliberate attempt to keep his theory within his preferred subjects – the lowly and natural.
Again, Wordsworth‘s thesis is coherently presented and thus easy to follow. He discusses content and form in an orderly but passionate manner. The theory is exhibits originality and erudition. Again, the essay adopts simple but striking terms best exemplified in Wordsworth‘s perception of a poet as ―a man speaking to men.‖ This makes his work clear and facilitates comprehension. In Richard Dover‘s summary, ‗Preface to the Lyrical Ballads‘ is ―a masterpiece of English prose, exemplary in its lucid yet passionate defence of a literary style that could be popular without compromising artistic and poetic standards‖ (1995, p. 1).
SELF ASSESEMENT EXERCISE 5
Identify other methods used in ‗Preface to the Lyrical Ballads‘. Which of the methods do you consider more effective and why?
185 4.4 Significance/Contributions
The significance of ‗Preface to Lyrical Ballads‘ mainly lies in its advocacy for the use of the lowly and ordinary in poetic construction. Wordsworth‘s theory widens the literary scope, revolutionalises the content and form of literature, reinterprets the author and his environment, initiates a new critical approach and exerts a lot of influence on writers.
First, the theoretical essay functions to maintain and enlarge the critical continuum of the English literature. It does this by playing a representational role for Romanticism. Because it encapsulates the Romantic critical values, ‗Preface to Lyrical Ballads‘ becomes, perhaps, the best articulation of the Romantic literary tradition. The essay bridges the gap between Neo-classical and Victorian periods and reinterprets the construction and consumption of literature.
Hence, the theoretical treatise gains a lot of respect within English literary criticism. For achieving such a feat, Wordsworth‘s literary concept is counted among the most significant and seminal conceptual essays in the English Literary history and criticism.
In addition, Wordsworth‘s essay is very significant because it promotes the democratization of content and style of literature in his stand against lofty subject and formal style. The interest in the ordinary and lowly is indeed a major departure from existing literary norm. By inviting the humble and the daily into arts, he widens the scope of literature and makes it more accommodating. Wordsworth‘s interest in the humble and everyday represents one of the earliest and most important pronouncements on realism in literature. Realism characterizes the nineteenth century known as ‗golden age of the novel‘. Based on the identified factors, we can term Wordsworth‘s essay a radical piece. According to Clark, Wordsworth postulates what was
―for the time and place a revolutionary perspective‖ on literature and which exerts a huge influence on literature making his assumptions ordinary and conventional (2006, p. 2). Several of Wordsworth‘s concepts have become widely accepted across ages and regions, even to this period. I guess that as a literary student, one of the first formal definitions of poetry you are introduced to is Wordsworth‘s ―spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings …‖ ( 243).
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Wordsworth‘s essay is again essential because it represents one of the initial philosophical studies of the literary artist. His perception of the creative writer is very unique because it considers both internal and external factors. Wordsworth is one of the earliest theorists to make efforts to perceive the creative writer in relation his physical and social spaces. This is where the work mainly derives its psychological and social characters. Have you noticed how Wordsworth‘s views assume the status of a pace-setter in many ways?
Furthermore, Wordsworth‘s theoretical essay initiates the expressive approach to criticism without rejecting mimetic and objective persuasions. This it achieves by its emphasis on the creative writer‘s passion and imagination. Wordsworth is also one writer who initially interprets the relationship between the author and his physical and social surroundings. His interpretations have had a lot of influence on critics. It is expedient to reemphasize the fact that ‗Preface to Lyrical Ballads‘ is one of the most important critical writings in the history of English Criticism and it has a lot of influence on subsequent critical ideas and positions. For Thrall et al., the work is ―of prime importance in the history of English literature and criticism‖ (1960, p. 120). ‗Preface to Lyrical Ballads‘ is indeed a very important theoretical work in the English literary history in spite of its limitations.
4.5 Limitations
‗Preface to Lyrical Ballads‘ maintains a number of flaws and elicits scholarly attacks, especially on its view on language. Many critics consider his view on metre unclear, imprecise and indefensible. Moreover, his advocacy for contemplation as a major process of poetic construction seems to repudiate his position on the employment of everyday speech. This is because the factor of selectivity makes it difficult for a literary artist to employ the natural language of everyday conversation. Therefore, Wordsworth ―contradicts himself‖ because the creative writer selects his words cautiously at the level of contemplation and this makes it hardly possible for him to, use the language ―really used by men‖ (Barad, 2012, p. 13). In addition, Wordsworth‘s avoidance of his approved poetic language and style in his poems seems like a rejection of his own theory in practice. This tends to validate the positions of his critics like Eliot and Coleridge.
187 4.6 Application
If you need to critique a literary text based on Wordsworth‘s literary principles, you have to watch out for how much the writer is able to:
Represent the lowly and marginalised.
Depict rural settings.
Imitate nature and human emotions.
Use literary devices cautiously and judiciously and avoid clichés, poetic diction, synthetic expression and archaisms, as well as irrelevancies and cruelty.
Employ everyday conversational language but that which is divested of all vulgarities.
Primarily provide pleasure and still edify the reader.
SELF ASSESMENT EXERCISE 6
Study the poems ‗The World is Too Much With Us‘ and ‗Tintern Abbey‘ and determine if and to what extent Wordsworth adheres to his literary principles in poetic construction.