Course: - M.A. English
Semester: - 1
Batch: - 2015-2017
Enrolment no:- PG15101003
Submitted to: - Smt. S.B.Gardi Dept. of English MKBU
Email id: - yeshab68@gmail.com
Paper no: - 3 Literary theory & criticism
Topic: - Self contradiction of Wordsworth
in his preface
§ Introduction of Wordsworth:-
Wordsworth mostly known as a poet, and he has
started his criticism just because of poetry. He has inspired by poetry. When
Wordsworth has started criticism it was a neo-classical criticism. Critics
judge the work by the genres and rules of poetry which has decided by ancients
like Aristotle has influenced and interrupted by French and Italian authors and
critics.
There were rules of writing poetry at that
time, and a poet has to follow the method, rhyme system and such regulations to
write poem. There were no sense of creativity, and novelty. There was a
particular form of write poetry and not any sense of substance. Wordsworth was
the first critic who suggested to concentrate on the soul of poetry, and has
given a new theory to write poetry. By his criticism he has given the sense of
creativity to the process of writing poetry.
He
has given Novelty, Experiment, Liberty, Spontaneity, Inspiration and
Imagination. These all new ideas were totally different from the classical
rules. He has given his views towards literary criticism in his ‘Preface’ he
has very simply described the manners of writing poetry.
Preface to Lyrical Ballads by William Wordsworth:-
After two editions of Lyrical Ballads in 1789 and
1800, the final edition has come out with the all new theories and ideas of
poetry in 1802.
Þ
Wordsworth’s
poetical concept:-
Coleridge and Wordsworth have written poetries in
Lyrical Ballads as a part of an experience to know that how people accepts the
common language in poetry, and how they get pleasure from it. And has given
some theories to write poetry as below;
1.
Object:-
The very first concept of writing poetry is to
choose the object from common things. The situations and incidents should be
from the life of an ordinary people, and then they are presented with the
imagination of a poet, which supports an original object and creates a kind of
a novelty. Wordsworth has rejecting all the classical forms of writing and
after choosing a subject of common life, he composes it in a formal style of
writing.
In his poem Table Turned, he has projected a very
simple situation that a person is reading book and a poet is telling him to be
with nature rather than sitting on a chair and be with books, here are some
lines,
Up! Up!
My friend, and quit your books;
Or
surely you’ll grow double:
Up! Up!
My friend, and clear your looks,
Why all
this toil and trouble?
And further in poem, there is a description of a
nature and comparison of books and nature.
2.
Routine life:-
After taking a subject from a common life, he has
depicted the character’s routine life incidence in their language. As per the
views of Wordsworth he has given an importance to
“Spontaneous
overflow of powerful feelings”
He used to go for an evening walk and in his walk
he used to encounter some incidence and beautiful sights of nature. After
viewing this sight and incidence, he spontaneously overflows his feelings as he
experienced.
In his poem Daffodils he has expressed his
routine life’s walk experience, that how he has seen the beautiful sight of
Daffodils,
I
wandered lonely as a cloud
That
floats on high o’er vales and hills
When
all at once I saw a crowd,
He has used his creative imagination that he was
wandered as a “lonely crowd” as aimlessly he was wandering.
In his another poem The Solitary Reaper, he has
depicted his another experience that he has heard a song from a tribal woman
working in a farm and has written a poetry, as we can see in some lines,
I
listened, motionless and still;
And, as
I mounted up the hill
The
music in my heart I bore,
Long
after it was heard no more.
This was his theory which was later on accepted
by critics and other poets also.
3.
Diction:-
Wordsworth has a strong belief that a language of
poetry should be very simple and it would be able to connect with the heart of
an ordinary people, it should be presented realistically, so uneducated person
could also understand it as well as educated person.
Wordsworth has experimented to his poetry with
vernacular dictions and this idea got success at that time. As per his theories
his view towards the diction that a poet should be,
“Man
speaking to men”
He has chosen common life with vernacular
language to communicate with all the readers. As per him, he believes that a
philosophical language can effect but a language of a common people could
affect in better way. In his poem My Heart Leaps Up, he has used the simple and
vernacular language,
My
heart leaps up when I behold
A
rainbow in the sky;
In a very simple way he has described his love
for rainbow, in his another poem “To a Butterfly”, he has depicted his
experience of playing with butterfly and his attempts to catch it. He likes to
watch butterfly and in poem he tells the butterfly to stay near him so he could
watch it for long time.
4.
A Poet:-
Wordsworth has given some qualities of poet by
saying that
“What
is Poet?”
Rather than telling who is poet. He concluded
some qualities like;
Man speaking to men; A man, it is true, endowed with more lively sensibility, more enthusiasm
and tenderness; He has a great knowledge of human nature, and a more comprehensive soul,
than supposed to be common among mankind; Who rejoices more than other men in the spirit of life that is in him;
These qualities a poet should have and in his
‘preface’ of Lyrical Ballads he has given the description and said that poet is
a one who can express his thoughts very well than a common person, to a common
person, he has that genius.
Þ
Wordsworth’s
self Contradiction:-
Wordsworth has given so many theories about
diction of poetry, how a poet should be and how he should write poetry but at
some point he himself has failed to follow that rules. In his some poetries he
used the language which is not a common people’s language, but highly
imaginative and against his nature. He was known as a nature poet but in his
poem London 1812, when it was time of French influence, and all the works was
criticized highly, and there were boundaries to write poetry, he recalls the
memory of Milton and he is telling Milton that you should be here at this time,
because England is in bad need of your kind of a brave man.
Milton!
Thou shouldst be living at this hour:
England
hath need to thee:
She is
a fen of stagnant waters: altar,
He has used a metaphor of stagnant water by
saying that all the people are blindly following such rules and have staying stagnantly
in their life in a particular manner. As all knows that john Milton has written
many rebellious works towards society, and he has shown the reality of life
without any fear of critics and political aspects, his anti-Christian view was
also famous. Further in the poem he says,
“We are selfish men; Oh! Raise us up, return
to us again”
Again he is telling the soul of Milton to rise
the country up because men have become selfish and self centered. He reminds
his works that always helped people to think in new ways.
Wordsworth in his explanation to
what is poet said that a poet should be very simple in his diction, but sudden
after that he also says that a poet should has a genius mind, thus he himself
has a contrast in his statement. He concludes a poet as a common man, but further he says that a poet is
quite different than a common man in expressing his thoughts. He has an
imagination power than a common person has. He has a strong belief that poetry should be a spontaneous overflow of
powerful feelings, but he himself has used more Tranquility. He used to recall
his memories after his experience. In most of his poetries there in
contradiction between spontaneity and tranquility. As in the very famous poetry of Wordsworth daffodils, first three stanzas
are in present tense which shows spontaneity and the last stanza is in the past
tense which is tranquility. In solitary reaper also there is a first stanza is
in the present tense and others are in past tense. With his self contradiction he has gain widely attention towards his
poetries and his theories, and got acceptance from readers and critics.
Þ
Conclusion:-
Wordsworth has presented his works in very simple
diction, with such realistic characters, realistic situations, though he has
contained strong narrative element which not only gain attention of common
people but also an educated people also. It is also an art to be in a simple
manner and understand the common people’s perspective. Wordsworth’s poetry does
not only delight us but teaches us a moral lesson to live life.
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