PREFACE TO LYRICAL BALLADS

(THEORY OF POETIC DICTION)

Lyrical Ballads is a collection of poems published by William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge
which was first published in 1798. It is widely accepted that this marked the beginning of the age of
English Romanticism. Coleridge only contributed four poems to the 1798 edition while the rest were
written by Wordsworth. The second edition was published in 1800 with Wordsworth contributing
additional poems and adding a preface. In the 1802 edition, Wordsworth added an appendix titled
Poetic Diction in which he explained and justify the ideas put forth by him in the preface.

The main purpose of writing these poems was not to defend or justify his views, but rather because his
poetry was of a new style. The main object or purpose of these poems was to choose situations related
or found in common life and to describe them as far as possible in the language which was really used
by men. The question then arose on how to make poetry beautiful? The answer was to throw over them
coloring of imagination which would make usual things appear unusual to the human eye. The humble
and rustic life was preferred over others by Wordsworth because it provided a better environment for
the emotions of the heart which in turn made it easier for them to attain maturity under less restraint.
The feelings that arose from such life existed in a state of greater simplicity. Also it gave rise to purer
emotions i.e. more philosophical and spiritual emotions. It must be noted that Wordsworth was against
artificiality in language and communication. It was a symbol of social vanity for him. The simple and
unelaborated language, language that arose from regular experience and regular feelings was far more
philosophical.

Wordsworth then admits that he doesn’t always have a distinct purpose thought of when he begins to
write. He however trusts his power of meditation where he believes the filtration of ideas happen. He
then famously states-

‘All good poetry is spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings recollected in tranquility’

However, he cautions not to take the meaning of these famous lines too literally. According to him the
process of poetry creation takes place when the poet recollects some past experience in a state of calm
i.e. in tranquility. The poet relives the experience although it is not exactly identical to the past, the
difference being that the feelings have been acted upon by the thoughts of the poet. By repeatedly
performing this act, our feelings and thoughts (subject) are interwoven together and it becomes a habit
of mind to describe objects to the readers. Hence, according to Wordsworth feelings give rise to actions
and it is not the other way around. The subject is important and plays a crucial part according to
Wordsworth as our mind is capable of being excited without the use of gross and violent
catalysts/simulants.

Wordsworth then makes an important observation regarding his style of poetry. According to him the
language of prose doesn’t differ from the language of poetry, instead they are rather the same with the
obvious exception of metre. Hence, the language of large part of any good poem is essentially the same
as that of a good prose.

He then proceeds to ask the question- ‘Who is a poet?’

‘A poet is a man speaking to men: a man endowed with more sensibility, more enthusiasm and
tenderness, who has a greater knowledge of human nature, and a more comprehensive soul, than are
supposed to be more common among mankind, a man pleased with his own passions and volitions and
who rejoices more than other men in the spirit of life that is in him.’

The poet has nurtured in himself an ability to be impassioned by events which are far removed from
those produced by reality than other men. He has mastered the art of expressing his thoughts and
feelings which arise or originate from his own mind without the need of any foreign catalyst or external
excitement. A poet wishes to match his feelings with those about who he writes. It can be thought of as
the poet’s attempt to become one with those he writes about. He does not differ from other men not in
nature but merely in the degree of his gifts. As Aristotle states-

‘Poetry is the most philosophic of all writings: it is so: its object is truth, not individual or local, but
general, and operative; not standing upon external testimony, but carried alive into the heart by passion;
truth which is its own testimony, which gives competence and confidence to the tribunal to which it
appeals, and receives them from the same tribunal.’

Wordsworth states that poetry is the philosophical and universal because of this very reason. It is based
upon the truth, truth that is universal.

Although the poet is free to write according to his will and give whatsoever expression to his emotion he
sees fit, there is only one restriction that he has to write under. He must give immediate pleasure to the
human being who possesses information that is expected to be possessed by a man. That is the sole
purpose of poetry according to Wordsworth.

Since we have already answered who is a poet, the next question that arises is- What does a poet do?

He considers man and the objects surrounding him as acting upon each other and influencing each
other. The poet considers a man in his natural/ordinary environment, in possession of certain quantity
of immediate knowledge (possessing certain convictions, intuitions, and deductions which from
repeated usage acquire quality) contemplating upon subject that is source of great pleasure for him.
Through the force of habit, he acquires the ability to find such objects everywhere which excite
sympathies and pleasure in him.

Wordsworth has thought of poetry as being higher than history, philosophy and even science. He says
that though the knowledge of both the poet and man of science is pleasure, science is more of a
personal acquisition which in no way connects us to our fellow human beings. Poetry on the other hand
allows us to understand and sympathize with our fellow human beings. The poet binds together by
passion and knowledge the vast empire of human society; he sings a song in which all human beings join
with him. Wordsworth considers poetry to be a countenance of all science. It complements science by
adding feelings to its truth and hence making it more appealing to others.

In conclusion, Wordsworth considered poetic diction as nothing but speaking the language of common
man. His aim was to imitate, as far as possible the very language of men. He attacked the elaborated
language used by the neo classical poets on the ground of being detached from reality and being as far
as possible from the real language spoken by common people. He admits that sometimes these
personifications can be used as a figure of speech but was against the usage of them as mechanical
device of style or as a family language. He further elaborates that there can be no essential or significant
difference between the language of a good poem and good prose. The only difference between the two
is that of metre. According to him, only a small portion of the pleasure given by poetry depended upon
the metre used and was against the practice of writing in metre without accompanying it with other
artificial distinctions of style.