PREFACE TO THE LYRICAL BALLADS | SUMMARY

The Preface to Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge appeared after the first publication of the poems and then in numerous revised forms until the end of Wordsworth's career. It remains the clearest statement of Romantic principles as it lays out the purpose and practice of writing poetry and its close relation to prose. It also explains the profession, or craft, of the "poet" and the role of poetry in giving a voice to contemporary and simplified ways of living that stay close to the truths of nature. For Wordsworth, as for all the Romantic writers, one discovered these primary laws of nature through experiences in the natural world—experiences that, when combined with emotion, produced poetry.

Importance of Subject Matter

Wordsworth emphasizes why and how he chooses the subjects for his poems. He separates his work from that of past ages and literary figures, showing they have been too "literary" by emphasizing formal or classical models of artificial conventions. Rather than the recording of actual observations or events, Wordsworth believes emotional truths and fidelity to nature are the keys to providing ordinary readers with insights into their own conditions of life. He favors a "humble and rustic" rural existence (yet without narrating anything unsettling or violent) to urban life because it seems simpler and more natural. Wordsworth also favors a more unified, common population that shares similar experiences. In cities like rapidly expanding London, the permanence of natural truths seems absent. The short-lived values of shifting populations give no connection to the past or the promise of future tranquility for the common people, whose experiences can form the basis for poetry as well as prose. Wordsworth sought to make ordinary experiences seem more extraordinary and enduring. As nature reveals permanence and unchanging truths, the new literature Wordsworth proposes would share the simplicity, and depth, of people's lives.

Characteristics of Poetry

Wordsworth says poetry must arise from the "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings; it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility." Although a poet should make a poem seem spontaneous, the creation of it is not. Poetry must reflect emotion, or passion—not simply record observations. The poet must draw from real-life experiences and describe them in ordinary language, and the poet must "throw over them a certain coloring of the imagination, whereby ordinary things should be presented to the mind in an unusual aspect." It is the imagination that permits the poet to touch on the eternal, making the surrounding world new and connecting the people with that world.

Wordsworth analyzes what he sees as four parts of the poet's creative process. The poet first observes something that creates a powerful emotion. Then he tranquilly contemplates and reflects on the emotion. During this period the poet may recall other things that relate to the observation itself or to the past in some way. Such contemplation is personal, intended only for the poet. The tranquility of contemplation disappears after a time, and then the poet distills all these thoughts, eliminating some and keeping others so that the original emotion is recreated in a way that is more universal. Finally, the poet is ready to write, with the aim of sharing the emotion with an audience.

Poetry, therefore, doesn't arise from classical models or through an immediate inspiration on any supernatural level. It arises through experience on an ordinary level—understood and reflected upon. Wordsworth rejects elaboration or literary devices as artificial and uses numerous examples of earlier poets' work in his discussion. He hopes to lead readers to meditate on their own emotions and arrive eventually at a more moral and true conception of themselves and of life. Poetry can achieve the finest level of art by being simple and straightforward.

Poetry and Prose

Wordsworth devotes much of the Preface to examining his views on poetry and prose. He rejects past distinctions of one being more heroic or a higher art than the other. His aim is to reveal both as sharing the most important characteristics of "the language of men." As he simplifies the art of being a poet into being "a man speaking to men," he essentially erases the lines separating prose from poetry. He sees the distinction of both as opposed to science, as he understands it, because the relatively new field of science focuses on the factual. Moreover, he sees the scientist as making discoveries on their own, away from others, and not influencing the common condition, which for Wordsworth is the essence of poetry. For Wordsworth, who favors free, straightforwardly rhymed lines over traditional rhyme and meter in poetry, the use of most meter produces a forced type of "verse" rather than the "naked," simpler poetry that shares truths with prose.

He explains that he chooses to write poetry—with a proper and natural "Poetic Diction"—rather than prose because it offers more possibilities for his imagination to explore the natural passions of men and give them form. However, he refuses to acknowledge any strict separation between poetry and prose because both must spring from emotion and reflection. Wordsworth writes, "They both speak by and to the same organs ... their affections are kindred, and almost identical, not necessarily differing even in degree." He ends the Preface by saying that whether he writes in prose or verse, the essential principle of his art—made of imagination and sentiment—will employ "one and the same language" of meter or prose.

SUMMARY OF THE PREFACE TO LYRICAL BALLADS:

Preface to Lyrical Ballads by William Wordsworth begins with a discussion of the collection of poems, written mostly by Wordsworth with contributions by S.T. Coleridge. Originally published in 1798, in 1800, Wordsworth added an earlier version of the Preface, which he extended two years later. Because he felt his poems were of a new theme and style, Wordsworth felt they needed an introduction. Some scholars say that Coleridge wanted to write the preface, but never got around to it, so the work fell to Wordsworth instead. As the majority of the poems in the collection are by Wordsworth, this was probably a more appropriate choice, though there is suggestion in some of Coleridge’s later writings that the two disagreed about what the Preface should say. In the Preface, Wordsworth writes that the purpose of the collection was to write poems that dealt with things that happen in everyday life. Most importantly, Wordsworth considered each poem in the collection to be an experiment in language usage, or diction. He wanted to find out if conversational language could be used effectively in poetry. What, then, is poetry? Wordsworth sets out to define this particular form of art. In the Preface to Lyrical Ballads, Wordsworth outlines his definition of the nature and function of poetry—as well as identifying the qualities that make someone a true poet. For Wordsworth, poetry must reflect spontaneity and an “overflow of powerful feelings.” Passion is key, as are mood and temperament. Although poetry must emerge from spontaneity, it must not be written spontaneously. Rather, Wordsworth asserts that a poem should be the result of long and deep reflection. He also cautions against being too concerned with the poetic rules of Classicism. Next, Wordsworth breaks down the poet’s process into four stages. The first is observation. A person, object, or situation must stimulate powerful emotions in the Romantic poet, and those observations must be noted. Recollection follows, which is the stage when the poet contemplates those observations. For this, tranquility is a must. Memories may surface that are days old or older, and the poet should contemplate those memories to explore how the emotions they provoke relate to past experiences. The third stage is filtering, when the poet clears the mind of all non-essential elements. The result of this is that the poet’s personal experience becomes relevant to a wider audience. It’s not until the fourth and final stage that the poet should begin to compose. The goal is to express emotions in a way that the reader will understand and can therefore contemplate. Wordsworth’s next topic is imagination. He begins by discussing how the neo-classicists defined imagination. They said that the mind was passive, and recorded sensations. Imagination, therefore, is a function of memory combined with the ability to associate those sensations with other things that may or may not exist. He provides the example of mythical creatures, which elicit, in literature, real sensations. For Romantics like Wordsworth, imagination is much more creative. Rather than assigning recorded sensations to other objects, the imagination has the power to create a new reality, and to see beyond the material world surrounding the poet. As for what to write about, Wordsworth states that poetry can capture any and every subject that is of interest to the mind. What matters is not whether a subject is poetic, but rather, whether the poet can add meaning to a subject and therefore make it poetic. Suddenly, themes from common life can be poetic and worthy of the contemplation Wordsworth requires of the poet. The reason this works, according to his argument, is that those who live a rustic lifestyle are closer to nature—and therefore farther away from vanity bred by artifice. Next, Wordsworth dives deeper into the function of poetry. Unlike the classicists, who value art for the sake of art—the idea that art should be produced regardless of any moral values or concerns--Wordsworth and the Romantics believe in art for the sake of life. That is, Wordsworth sees the function of poetry as ennobling the reader through the teaching of moral and philosophical values and ideals. Finally, Wordsworth discusses in greater depth the diction of poetry. Diction is basically the use of language, but more specifically, it’s the choice of words, phrases, sentence structures, and even figurative language. While diction is important in all of literature, Wordsworth places particular importance on its role in poetry because it is the poet’s medium. Whereas prose also has characters, setting, and plot to convey a message, the poet's choice of language, or diction, is the sole means of expression in poetry. Despite this, Wordsworth argues that the diction of poetry and prose is the same and criticizes the neo-classicists for their “artificial” and “unnatural” language. Passion should drive diction, not ornament, dignity or meter. He wants poetry to center on rustic, humble situations using rustic, humble language. According to Wordsworth, that is the real source of poetic truth and beauty