Bridge course: wordsworth's preface.

This blog is in response to the task given by Dr.dilip barad sir.this is   Bridge course: wordsworth's preface. In this blog i am sharing my understanding on this topic like,

Q-1 What is difference between the poetic creed of 'Classicism' and 'Romanticism'? 

Q-2 Why does wordsworth say what is Poet rather than who is Poet?

Q-3 What is Poetic Diction?which sort of Poetic Diction is suggested by wordsworth in his preface?  

Q-4 What is Poetry?

Q-5 Discuss 'Daffodils' -'I wonderded lonely as a cloud' with reference to wordsworth's poetic creed. 

 Let's talk  about Romantic age:

Introduction:

The romantic period in English literature begins with the publication of William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge's "Lyrical Ballads" in 1798 and ends with the accession of Queen Victoria in 1837.Romantic period coincided with the revolution in France and America and therefore it is also known as "The Age of Revolution. "The writers of the romantic period were inspired by the ideas of the French revolution and tried to translate these ideas into the real of literature. the triumph of democracy in the period ended with the passage of the reform bill in 1832.

The French revolution was an especially important influence on the political thinking of many of the romantic poet. The romantic period was one of major social changes in England. the movement of so many people in England was the result of two forces:

1. The agricultural revolution.

2. The French revolution.

The 19th century is often called "the romantic era". romantic poetry was often written in common everyday language for all to relate,not just the upper class. Nature was a focus of many famous poets such as Wordsworth and Coleridge,Keat.

William Wordsworth was known as "The Father of English Romanticism". Any of his work can support the focus of nature the great poets of the romantic poetry in the beginning of the 19th century took Blake and Byron as their novelists and celebrated the"Golden Age" in English poetry. Subjectivity was the main element of romantic poetry. The great romantics looked into their own souls and gave us typical individual poems. those poems reflected their personality. the romantic Age is also called "Renaissance of wonder". To the 18th century poets, nothing was mystery. it is discreative senseibility and individual emotion which gave us the glories of romantic poetry.

Characteristics of Romantic Age:

The characteristics of the romantic age are as below.

1.Love of nature.

2.Interest in the past.

3.Mystery.

4.Interest in humanity.

5.Freedom of Imagination.

6.Subjectivity and spontaneity.

7.Love for the elemental simplicities of life.

8.Regeneration of poetic style.

So, the romantic age was characterized by excess of emotions ,it produced a new type of novel. The romantic Age was the age of poetry. the human spirit began to derived new richness from outward object and philosophical ideas. that what some critics call the romantic revival as the "Renaissance of Wonder" the glory of the age is the poetry of Wordsworth,Coleridge,Scott,Byron,Shelley and Keats. the romantic literature is a genuinely creative literature calling into play the highest creative faculty of man.  

Q-1. What is difference between the poetic creed of 'Classicism' and 'Romanticism'? 

ANS:

Classicism:

"Learning hence for ancient rules a just esteem; To copy nature is to copy them"

this statement is said by the great Neoclassical poet and very important classical poet of English Literature. Alexander pope wanted to say that, "when you are following the ancient rules of the ancient poets and the writers, when you respect them and when you copy them, your literature is going to be classical literature."

classicism is a literary movement which is in sharp contrast to romanticism means it is apposite to romanticism. This movement became popular in english literature during 18th century.classicism became very popular in english literature during the Augustan Age or the Age of Enlightenment. the followers of classicism seek or want perfection and intellectual appeal rather than emotional appeal.

"classicism in literature is the name given to the works which adopt or follow the principles or style of the ancient Greek and Roman literature."

Major classical works:

major classical works were written during the Augustan Age(1700-1740) and during the age of Dr.jonson(1740-1800). classicism has its impact even during the modern age.

-Alexander Pope's 'The Rape Of The Lock'.

-Samuel Richardson's 'Pamela'.

-Daniel Defoe's 'Robinson Crusoe'.   

-Jonathan Swift's 'Gulliver Travels'.

-Joseph Conrad's 'Heart Of Darkness'.

-T.S.Eliot's 'Murder In The Cathedral'

Romanticism:

Romanticism is an english literary movement which flourished and bloomed with flying colours and spread its fragrance in the field of english poetry in the beginning of the 19th century. It began with the publication of 'Lyrical Ballads' in 1798. It is a collection of fantastic and touching lyrics by William Wordsworth and S.T.Coleridge. It was a reaction against the Neo-Classical poetry of the 18th century. It had its Origin in the Elizabethan Age of the 16th century.

Romanticism is a term derived from the French word "Romaunt"

meaning "A Romantic Story Told In Verse".It does not mean only love between man and women. It has a broder meaning"Romantic" means everything which excited us, appeals our emotions and thrills us.Hundreds of critics have defined the movement of romanticism in various ways. An English Critic,F.L.Lucas has counted 11,396 definitions of romanticism.

definitions:

"Romanticism is the addition of strangeness to beauty."

                                            -Walter Pater.

  

Wordsworth and Coleridge's poetry was in sharp contrast to the Neo-classical poetry of 18th century. They reacted against all norms and rules of writing poetry and they discarded the reason,intellectualism and realism from poetry and they wanted to free poetry from the bondage of classicism. W.J.Long rightly remarks in this regard, "The romantic movement is marked by a strong reaction and protest against the  bondages of rules and customs."

Major romantic work:

-the publication Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge

- the composition Hymns to the Night by Novalis

-poetry by William Blake

-poetry by Robert Burns

-Rousseau's philosophical writings

-"Song of Myself" by Walt Whitman

-the poetry of Samuel Taylor Coleridge

-the written works of William Wordsworth

Difference between classicism and romanticism:

We would start with the discussion of the difference between classicism and romanticism. Romanticism and classism and not just to the age or period of English literature but there are two different ideologies, two different Schools of thoughts or techniques of writing certain things. It is not about the difference of ideology but it also has a difference in their approach to life and also in their approach to look towards the art and world.

Q-2. Why does wordsworth say 'what is poet'?rather than 'who is poet'?

ANS:

Views on a poet:

wordsworth gives an elaborated explanation on meaning of the word 'poet' and 'what is a poet?'(rather than 'who' is a poet?) He defines it in degree of comparison. 

he says a poet is a man speaking to men,endowed with more lively sensibility, more enthusiasm and tenderness, who has a greater knowledge of human nature, amd a more comprehensive soul, who rejoices, more than other men in the spirit of life,habitually impelled to create volitions,passion and situations where he does not find them.

scott-james very aptly discusses wordsworth's views on poet.wordsworth demanded spontaneity in his definition which does, according to him,not make a poet 'a careless or thoughtless person' A poet possesses 'of a more than usual organic sensibility' with already 'thought long and deeply' as in the stages of poetic creation. the poet is a man of sensibility.    

Q-3. What is poetic diction? Which sort of poetic diction is suggested by wordsworth in his preface?

ANS:

In general view, poetic diction simply means 'choice of words' resulting into style of the particular poet or poem. however, wordsworth,here, deeply advocates on a avoiding poetic diction of the previous age. he does not support the idea of using artificial metaphors and other figures of speech or any other device to decorate the poem or to make the style higher. He rather suggests to choose 'a selection of language really used by men' especially man of 'humble and rustic life' to make the poetry more interesting, popular among common readers and to give poetic pleasure to all.

wordsworth also asserts that there is no difference between language of prose and poetry. the arrangement or order of words used in the best poetry can also be found in the prose. only the use of meter can differentiate the difference between between the two. he favours use of meter in his views. According to him,readers can easily follow the rules of meter. it does not make any interference with the passion of readers.

Q-4. What is poetry?

ANS:

Wordsworth was profoundly influenced by the french revolution and its slogan 'liberty, equality and fraternity'. the three magic terms were one of the triggers for wordsworth to break-away from the rule-bound poetry of the previous neo-classical age into whole new poetic theory of 'inner evidence of vivid sensation and spontaneous feeling'.

he found the need of writing the preface in the second edition of Lyrical Ballads to the questions raised to his advent of a new type of poetry. with his preface he has put forth his point of view and removed the bitter criticism of his poems. secondly, he made readers aware about the different type of poetry he had composed to make them understand his poetry. Lastly, he wanted to re-established shakespeare and Milton over 'frantic novels, sickly and stupid german tragedies, and deluges of idle and extravagant stories in verse.'

Definition of poetry:

Wordsworth here gives one of the most famous definition of poetry.he define,

 'poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquillity.'

 that means one cannot plan a poem ,it comes naturally with overflowing powerful feelings. Like Blake, he also rejects Aristotelian doctrines of poetry by saying that plot, or situation, is not first things but it is the strong feeling that matters.

According to Wordsworth, there are four stages in the creation of poetry of a true poet. it passes through Observation, Recollection, Contemplation and the Creation. such poetry gives immense joy to the poet and he shares it with his readers.

Daffodils: Published in 1804.

   

We would understand the definition of the poem by the example of Wordsworth's poem Daffodils. Daffodils was the poem published in 1804; the poem is in 4 stanzas; the first three stanzas of the poet are in past tense while the last stanza is in present tense.

After reading the whole poem we can imagine a poet reclining on the couch and recollecting his nature walk which usually the lake poets used to take, there he must have seen the spread of Daffodils and in his inward eyes, must have captured that and at present he is sitting in his pensive and the vacant mood, recollecting the view of Daffodils which he had during his nature walk. Here the past tense in the first three stanzas of the poem and the present tense in the last stanza of the poem clearly justifies that definition of the poem in the wordsworth's poem. The present tense of the last stanza depicts that the poet in his free time is collecting his memory about Daffodils and is writing the poem on Daffodils.

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