The Preface to the Lyrical Ballads: a poetic manifesto

The Preface to the Lyrical Ballails can be conside11ed a manifesto for Wordsworth's work and
explains well his idea ofpoetry and nature, the role ofthe poet and the language he should use.
Poetry, according to Wordsworth, must be concerned with the ordinary, everyday wor1d
and the influence of memory on the :Present, which is to say, the recol1ection of emotions
and feelings. The best subjects are therefore 'hum.b1e rustic life' and people in close contact
with n ature .
The po et nas a greater sensibility than ordinary men and thanks to his power of
imagination can communicate his feelings and help people to get in touch with their
interior w orld.
The kind of lan gu age used by the poet must reflect this simplicity, it has to be similar to
the simple 'language of men' . Here is Wo11dsworth's definition of poetry as he expresses it
in the preface to th e second edition of the Lyrical Ballads:
'I bave said that poetry is the spontaneous overflow 1 of powerful
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feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquillity: the ~- - I
1 overflow : inondazione, II
emotion is contemplated till, 2 by a species of reaction, the tranquillity :
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profusione. I
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gradually disappears, and an emotion, kindred 3 to that which was

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I 2 till : fin o a qu ando. I
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: 3 kindred : simile. :
before the subject of contemplation, is gradually produced, and does I
: 4 is carried on : prosegue. :
itself actually exist in the mind. In this mood successful composition I
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_ _ JI

generally begins, and in a mood similar to this it is carried on.' 4