Wordsworth’s theory of poetry

1. Wordsworth’s theory of poetry Described in the “Preface” to the second edition of Lyrical Ballads, published in 1800

2. “[P]oetry is the spontaneous overlow of powerful feelings. . .recollected in tranquility” • It is concerned with the emotions of the individual poet as opposed to being concerned with great events in human history • Although nature is a persistent subject, the real subject of the poetry is the thoughts and feelings of the poet

3. “The principle object, then, which I proposed to myself in these poems was to choose incidents and situations from common life, and to relate or describe them, throughout, as far as was possible, in the selection of language really used by men.” • “Low and rustic life was generally chosen”

4. The aim of this poetry is to refresh our sense of wonder in the every day, the trivial, the familiar • The purpose of poetry is to “throw over [situations from common life] a certain coloring of imagination, whereby ordinary hings should eb presented to the mind in an unusual way” • Sometimes it achieves a sense of wonder through the use of the supernatural or altered states of consciousness