‘It’s a Beauteous Evening Calm and Free’ by Wordsworth as a Petrarchan Sonnet

Perfected by fourteenth century Italian poet Petrarch the Italian sonnet is essentially a lyric poem of fourteen iambic pentameter lines. An Italian sonnet is divided into two parts: octave and sestet. The first eight lines of an Italian sonnet are collectively known as an octave, and the rest six lines are known as sestet. The rhyme of the octave is a b, b a, a b, b a. and rhyme of the sestet is c d e, c d e. This strongly established rhyme scheme gives the poem a clear overall structure. 

The two sections namely octave and sestet of a sonnet normally have different tones. One main idea is deposited or established in the octave and it is the task of the sestet to complement or develop it. The first known sonneteers in English Sir Thomas Wyatt and Earl of Surrey used this Italian scheme, as did the later English poets including John Milton, Thomas Gray, William Wordsworth and Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

‘It is a Beauteous Evening Calm and Free’ by Wordsworth is a typical Petrarchan sonnet which is divided into two units: octave and sestet. The octave has been used to give the picture of a beautiful and tranquil sunset. It opens to elaborate the admiration the poet feels for the evening. The peaceful atmosphere of the evening is compared to the holy calmness of a nun’s praying to God with absolute concentration. The bright sun is sinking down in its tranquility and the calmness of heaven shades over the sea. And amidst all these- the peaceful evening, the sunset, and the roaring of waves of the sea, the poet feels the presence of an eternal Being, God. So here in the octave the poet establishes a close contact between the nature and God.

 IT is a beauteous evening, calm and free,
The holy time is quiet as a Nun Breathless with adoration;
the broad sun Is sinking down in its tranquillity;
The gentleness of heaven broods o'er the Sea:
Listen! the mighty Being is awake,
And doth with his eternal motion make
A sound like thunder--everlastingly.

Dear Child! dear Girl! that walkest with me here,
If thou appear untouched by solemn thought,
Thy nature is not therefore less divine:
Thou liest in Abraham's bosom all the year;
And worship'st at the Temple's inner shrine,
God being with thee when we know it not.

The sestet opens with the poet’s address to a girl child walking with him. It seems to the poet that the child is untouched by the solemn atmosphere of the evening. But soon he realizes that this indifference to unearthly beauty does not minimize the divinity of the child. The child has a divine nature. She is close to divinity, just like the Holy priest of the Temple in Jerusalem. Thus the sestet brings the whole theme , established in the octave, to a satisfactory end.

The glorification of the childhood is a common theme in Wordsworth’s poetry. Here, he is also doing the same thing. He finds a child quite different from an adult person. A child is truly close to God, but the adult persons can’t understand it. The rhyme scheme of the sonnet is a b, b a, a b, b a, c d e, c e d, which is a slight variation to the petrarchan rhyme.

The poem is also written in iambic pentameter, which is an absolute characteristic of a sonnet. Thus the sonnet ‘It Is…Free’ is an English adaptation of Petrarchan sonnet in which the personal experiences and interests of the poet are vividly expressed.

Wordsworth's Theory of Poetic Sensibility

Wordsworth used the phrase "organic sensibility" to refer to natural mental capacities. Wordsworth writes, "an accurate taste in poetry, and in all other arts...is an acquired taste, which can only be produced by severe thought, and a long continued intercourse with the best models of composition." So he seems to say that, while writing poetry might come naturally, reading and understanding it doesn't. He also is implying that most good poetry is beyond the comprehension of those without a background in how to read it, and that people of less discriminating taste can't be sensible of which poetry is good and which is bad.

He's describing something profound, and in using the word sense, he seems to invoke many of sensibility's meanings: perception, emotional consciousness, sensitiveness. But this use also seems to broaden the definition of "emotional connection to works of literature, music and art" to include nature.

What Does Wordsworth Mean by "Spontaneous Overflow of Powerful feelings"

By “Spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings”, Wordsworth opines that poetry is a matter of mood and inspiration. Poetry evolves from the feelings of the poet. Poetry’s source is the feeling in the heart, not the ideas of the intellect. A poet cannot write under pressure. In this regard, poetry flows out of his heart in a natural and fluent manner. Deep emotion is the basic condition of poetry; powerful feelings and emotions are fundamental. Without them great poetry can not be written. But T. S. Eliot in his Tradition and the Individual Talent rejects Wordsworth's definition of poetry and holds the idea that a writer should be impersonal and his writings should be devoid of personal emotion and feelings.

Emotion Recollected in Tranquility

To begin with Wordsworth’s words, “I have said that poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings; it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility.” At first glance, these two statements seem contradictory but Wordsworth’s theory of poetry involved the fusion of the two statements. In a sense powerful feelings and profound thought make poetry perfect. Wordsworth told that the poet can’t rely on sensibility alone. He has to be a person who has also thought long and deeply. After that, a calm mind is equally necessary to furnish the past/ previous thoughts/ feelings.

At first, the poet observes some object, character or situation. It sets up powerful emotions in his mind. The poet doesn’t react immediately. He allows it to sink into his mind along with the feelings which it has excited. Then comes the recollection of the emotion, at a later moment. The emotion is recollected in tranquility. There might be a time lapse of several years. Thus poetry originates in emotion recollected in tranquility and so ultimately the product of the original free flow of that emotion.

Wordsworth's Views on Poetic Truth

Aristotle was the fist who declared poetic truth to be superior to historical truth. He called poetry the most philosophic of all writings. Wordsworth agrees with Aristotle in this matter. Poetry is given an exalted position by Wordsworth in such a way that it treats the particular as well as the universal. Its aim is universal truth. Poetry is true to nature. Wordsworth declares poetry to be the “image” or “man and nature”. A poet has to keep in mind that his end (objective) is to impart pleasure. He declares poetry will adjust itself to the new discoveries and inventions of science. It will create a new idiom for the communication of new thoughts. But the poet’s truth is such that sees into heart of things and enables others to see the same. Poetic truth ties all mankind with love and a sense of oneness.

William Wordsworth's Coparative Study of Science and Poetry in his Preface to Lyrical Ballads

William Wordsworth, as a Romantic poet, in his Preface to lyrical Ballads, considers poetry to be superior to science. He shows that the scientist studies only the appearance of things while the poet investigates the inner reality of human soul. The realization of the unity of nature and man gives absolute pleasure to the poet. A scientist is devoid of this pleasure; he enjoys pleasure in solitude whereas poetic truth can be shared by all. The poet’s appeal, says Wordsworth, is to the intellect as well as to the heart of man, unlike the appeal of the scientist’s truth, which is to the intellect alone.

Wordsworth thinks that the time may come when science will change and alter the very material conditions of life. When that happens, the poet will give feeling and emotional coloring to the factual achievement of science and present it in a vivid form to the reader. The dry and dull skeleton of science will be given life and vividness, flesh and blood through the art of poetry.

The Victorian poet Mathew Arnold in his critical writing The Study of Poetry, echoes Wordsworth’s view that science would remain incomplete without poetry and quotes Wordsworth: poetry is “the breath and finer spirit of knowledge”. In a fact the atmosphere of sensation only matters and he takes his surroundings for his subject. Even the ‘objects of the science” are put to poetic sensation and the discoveries of the chemist, the Botanist, or Mineralogist will also be the objects of the poet’s art. Not only that the poet will aid the science to ring it before all in a decisive form in the coming days with its “divine spirit”. Thus Wordsworth elevates the position of poet over the man of science and so says, “it is as immortal as the heart of man.”

William Wordsworth's Comparative Study of Science and Poetry in his Preface to Lyrical Ballads

William Wordsworth, as a Romantic poet, in his Preface to lyrical Ballads, considers poetry to be superior to science. He shows that the scientist studies only the appearance of things while the poet investigates the inner reality of human soul. The realization of the unity of nature and man gives absolute pleasure to the poet. A scientist is devoid of this pleasure; he enjoys pleasure in solitude whereas poetic truth can be shared by all. The poet’s appeal, says Wordsworth, is to the intellect as well as to the heart of man, unlike the appeal of the scientist’s truth, which is to the intellect alone.

Wordsworth thinks that the time may come when science will change and alter the very material conditions of life. When that happens, the poet will give feeling and emotional coloring to the factual achievement of science and present it in a vivid form to the reader. The dry and dull skeleton of science will be given life and vividness, flesh and blood through the art of poetry.

The Victorian poet Mathew Arnold in his critical writing The Study of Poetry, echoes Wordsworth’s view that science would remain incomplete without poetry and quotes Wordsworth: poetry is “the breath and finer spirit of knowledge”. In a fact the atmosphere of sensation only matters and he takes his surroundings for his subject. Even the ‘objects of the science” are put to poetic sensation and the discoveries of the chemist, the Botanist, or Mineralogist will also be the objects of the poet’s art. Not only that the poet will aid the science to ring it before all in a decisive form in the coming days with its “divine spirit”. Thus Wordsworth elevates the position of poet over the man of science and so says, “it is as immortal as the heart of man.”

William Wordsworth's 'Michael' as a Pastoral Poem

William Wordsworth’s first attempt at a pastoral poem can be seen in “Michael,” the concluding poem of Lyrical Ballads. A pastoral poem is defined as poem set in idealized, often artificial rural surroundings. “Michael” begins with Wordsworth taking us to the mystical place near Greenhead Ghyll, where Michael and his family live.

Wordsworth vividly describes the land on which Michael lives, making it seem like paradise. Michael lives in a solitary place in the valley among the high mountains. There is a small river and by the side of that small river there lie some uncut stones.

“Upon the Forest-side in Grasmere Vale

There dwelt a Shepherd, Michael was his name.”

The story in the poem is very simple and it is connected with these pieces of stones. Michael is then described as a shepherd who has worked the land all his life. Michael faces many storms in the company of the flock of sheep. He can understand the meanings of the winds. He can easily understand when a storm is coming. Michael has a deep love for his fields, rocks, stones and nature.

Hence he had learn'd the meaning of all winds,

Of blasts of every tone, and often-times

When others heeded not

We feel that Michael is the creation of the poet’s mind. Like, Wordsworth, Michael is the great lover of nature. The character of Michael is dear to Wordsworth because such a man is very close to Wordsworth’s heart.

As the poem continues, Michael’s wife, who is twenty years his junior, and Luke their son are introduced and thoroughly described. Michael and Isabel have lived on land he inherited for many years. Isabel as the perfect cares greatly for her family and works hard to care them. She has two spinning wheels.

Michael, his wife and his son are found to be busy in domestic affairs along with the sheepdogs. They work from sunrise to till sunset. The son remains busy repairing the plough of the sickle.

two wheels she had

Of antique form; this large, for spinning wool;

That small, for flax; and if one wheel had rest

It was because the other was at work.

The poem is really a poem about humble life. We observe that Wordsworth is dealing with rural man with rural occupation.

Wordsworth describes the cottage and the household with picturesque language. The cottage is on a high ground and during the evening the housewife lights the lamp. The house is named “The Evening Star.”

Down from the cicling by the chimney's edge,

Which in our ancient uncouth country style

…………………………………….

………………………………………..

Of day grew dim, the House-wife hung a lamp;

An aged utensil, which had perform'd

Service beyond all others of its kind.

As the poem continues we watch Luke grow up. At the age of five he is given a shepherds staff from his father. Love or passion is the part and parcel of rural life. The poem deals with the domestic love. The deep love of Michael for Isabel is emphasized throughout the whole poem. But what is extraordinary important is the old man’s love for the son. His son is the entire of all his hopes. Michael is linked with the boy as body linked with the soul.

Michael’s heart

This son of his old age was yet more dear

………………………………….

………………………………….

Than that a child, more than all other gifts

That earth can offer to declining man,

Brings hope with it, and forward-looking thoughts,

Michael is used to have Luke by wherever he is working in the field, at home or under the shad oak tree in front of he cottages. The father keep the son safe from the burning son.

In the following lines Michael is forced to pay back a debt which he owes, and the only way he could do this is to either sell his land or have Luke work off the debt in the city. Before he goes his Father takes him to the brook with the many stones and asks him to lay the cornerstone for the Sheepfold. He wants him to come back one day and finish what he has started, and to leave a permanent mark on the land. He hopes that he will get back his property and built the sheepfold with collected stones.

The son is ruined. Soon Michael dies and his wife follows him. After some time the cottage is pulled down and the unfinished sheepfold is no longer seen. The Evening Star vanished and there emerged only the oak tree.

yet the Oak is left

That grew beside their Door; and the remains

Of the unfinished Sheep-fold may be seen

Beside the boisterous brook of Green-head Gill.

In the light of the above analysis we can say that the poem deals with the success and failure, hopes and despair of the rural people and for this he uses pastoral setting. Wordsworth is very much simple, candid and spontaneous in his creation and everywhere there is the touch of nature.

The Healing Power of Landscapes as Shown in Wordsworth’s Nature Poems

William Wordsworth, the pioneer of the English Romantic movement, carefully studied the landscapes and showed their healing power on humans. As a poet of nature he always found a close relation between men and nature. Throughout his nature poems like Tintern Abbey, Michael and the Immortality Ode his study of nature fould full expression.

Like the many topographical or landscape poems “Tintern Abbey” describes the scene in detail, appealing to our eyes and ears — the sound of “rolling” waters, the sublime impressiveness of “steep and lofty cliffs,” and so forth.

These waters, rolling from their mountain-springs

With a soft inland murmur.


The poet is very much exalted to enjoy the natural surroundings of the place. The reference to “mountain-springs” comes with a suggestion of refreshment and because they have “a soft inland murmur’s of harmony and of seclusion. Wordsworth is here creating not merely a world- picture of a remembered sense but an image of an Eden of Peace, an Eden that is no less a mythic paradise for being a place in real country. For Wordsworth Paradise is a word that can be completely united and harmonized by mind and in the opening passage we see Wordsworth’s imagination imposing that order and harmony on the scene as he observe it.

The “steel and lofty cliffs” which impress on the mind “thoughts of more deep seclusion” at the same time “connect the landscape with the quiet of the sky.” The vertical lines of the cliffs at once enclose in their protective circle the scene in which the poet find himself and link the peace of the landscape with the profounder quiet of the heavens.

In this Eden there is of course a tree the “dark sycamore” under which the poet reposes and from which he views the human scene:-

“The day is come when I again repose
Here, under this dark sycamore, and view
These plots of cottage-ground, these orchard-tufts,
Which at this season, with their unripe fruits,”

The poet asserts that the “houseless woods” add a further sense of the paradise quality of life in the valley reminding us of the loneliness and shapelessness which surround it at a distance. The hermit sitting his fire, alone in his cave, is not a figure to be envied and the “vagrant dwellers” are shadow figures outside the ordered seclusion of the valley.

In the second stages of the poem, Wordsworth considers what he has gained from the memory of his first visit to the Wye Valley five years before. His recollections of the landscape have had a therapeutic effect, bringing him “tranquil restoration’ in “hours of weariness.” He also attributes to his remembrances of the Wye Valley a positive, albeit, unconscious influence upon his moral growth, an influence which has encouraged “acts/ of kindness and of love.” The memory of landscape he says has been a source of great joy to him and has acted on him as a stimulus to kind and sympathetic deeds.
He says:-

These beauteous forms,

Through a long absence, have not been to me
As is a landscape to a blind man's eye:

The “beauteous forms” have preserved him in the loneliness of the city- a loneliness which is an echo of the very different loneliness of the Hermit. The forms as they have been remembered are those of nature humanized. This memory even in the noise of the city and in his loneliness, reminds him of man’s capacity for a harmonious relationship with other men and with the world around him.
Wordsworth continues that the recollection of the “forms” of valley creates in him a mood and a physical condition that are propitious to profound thought. What is described here is the state of physical harmony and mental quiet which may for example be induced by certain kind of music and in which it is possible for the mind to become usually contemplative and active. It seems that the remembered order and harmony of the Wye valley serve as a reassurance to the mind in its search for a similar order and harmony in the Universe as a whole. The mood described is apparent:-

…….the heavy and the weary weight
Of all this unintelligible world,
Is lightened:

Nature provides solace for man. It lightens his burden of humanity. The beauties of nature lull the human passion in a state of repose so that the poet may “become a living soul” a pure soul which can penetrate the corporeal forms of things and see into the life of things”. It is through a power in nature then that the poet transcends nature’s material forms and contemplates a higher more divine state of being. He develops an extraordinary insight as a result of the tranquilizing influence of the nature. By means of this insight he is in a position to understand the meaning, purpose and significance of the Universe.

In body, and become a living soul:
While with an eye made quiet by the power
Of harmony, and the deep power of joy,
We see into the life of things.

Through the exercise of memory pleasurable experiences of the past are still available to him. Moreover these experiences often have their most profound effect after they have been absorbed and contemplated. Thus remembering the harmonious form of the Wye Valle induces a mood in which the essential harmony of all things can be perceived.


The same effect of landscape on poet’s mind is expressed in the poem”Immortality Ode”. The speaker starts the poem saying wistfully that there was a time when all of nature seemed dreamlike to him, “apparelled in celestial light,” and that that time is past;

There was a time when meadow, grove, and stream,
The earth, and every common sight
To me did seem
Apparelled in celestial light,
The glory and the freshness of a dream.



Then, he says that he still sees the rainbow, and that the rose is still lovely; the moon looks around the sky with delight, and starlight and sunshine are each beautiful. He can still appreciate the loveliness of the rainbow, the moon light, he sun shine etc, but the divine glory which the possessed has now departed.

The rainbow comes and goes,
And lovely is the rose;
The moon doth with delight
Look round her when the heavens are bare;
Waters on a starry night
Are beautiful and fair;
The sunshine is a glorious birth;
But yet I know, where'er I go,
That there hath past away a glory from the earth.


While listening to the birds sings in springtime and watching the young lambs leap and play, he was stricken with a thought of grief. The sense of loss naturally makes Wordsworth sad.

while the birds thus sing a joyous song,
And while the young lambs bound
As to the tabor's sound,
To me alone there came a thought of grief:


But the sound of nearby waterfalls, the echoes of the mountains, and the gusting of the winds restored him to strength. He exhorts a shepherd boy to shout and play around him. He consoles himself with the thought that now nature has a deep meaning and significance for him which I did not have when he was a child. He may loss his childhood innocence, but he is thankful to his childhood which helped him understand his close affinity to immortality.

We find the touch of landscape from beginning to end in ‘Michael’.
“Michael” begins with Wordsworth taking us to the mystical place near Greenhead Ghyll, where Michael and his family live.

Wordsworth vividly describes the land on which Michael lives, making it seem like paradise. Michael lives in a solitary place in the valley among the high mountains. There is a small river and by the side of that small river there lie some uncut stones.

“Upon the Forest-side in Grasmere Vale
There dwelt a Shepherd, Michael was his name.”

The story in the poem is very simple and it is connected with these pieces of stones. Michael is then described as a shepherd who has worked the land all his life. Michael faces many storms in the company of the flock of sheep. He can understand the meanings of the winds. He can easily understand when a storm is coming. Michael has a deep love for his fields, rocks, stones and nature.
Hence he had learn'd the meaning of all winds,
Of blasts of every tone, and often-times
When others heeded not

Michael, his wife and his son are found to be busy in domestic affairs along with the sheepdogs. They work from sunrise to till sunset. The son remains busy repairing the plough of the sickle.

Wordsworth describes the cottage and the household with picturesque language. The cottage is on a high ground and during the evening the housewife lights the lamp. The house is named “The Evening Star.”

Down from the cicling by the chimney's edge,
Which in our ancient uncouth country style
…………………………………….
………………………………………..
Of day grew dim, the House-wife hung a lamp;
An aged utensil, which had perform'd
Service beyond all others of its kind.


As the poem continues we watch Luke grow up. At the age of five he is given a shepherds staff from his father. In the following lines Michael is forced to pay back a debt which he owes, and the only way he could do this is to either sell his land or have Luke work off the debt in the city. Before he goes his Father takes him to the brook with the many stones and asks him to lay the cornerstone for the Sheepfold. He wants him to come back one day and finish what he has started, and to leave a permanent mark on the land. He hopes that he will get back his property and built the sheepfold with collected stones.

The son is ruined. Soon Michael dies and his wife follows him. After some time the cottage is pulled down and the unfinished sheepfold is no longer seen. The Evening Star vanished and there emerged only the oak tree.

The Cottage which was nam'd The Evening Star
Is gone, the ploughshare has been through the ground
On which it stood; great changes have been wrought
In all the neighbourhood, yet the Oak is left
That grew beside their Door; and the remains
Of the unfinished Sheep-fold may be seen
Beside the boisterous brook of Green-head Gill.



From the above discussion we can say that Wordsworth is a landscape architect. He is a rounded and eminent practitioner of the art of landscape.

Wordsworth's Preface to Lyrical Ballads as a manifesto of Romantic Movement

Wordsworth’s Preface to the Lyrical Ballads declares the dawn of English Romantic Movement. Wordsworth and Coleridge, with the publication of the Lyrical Ballads, break away with the neo-classical tendencies in poetry. As the reading people are not familiar with his new type of poetry, Wordsworth puts forward a preface to this book. In this preface, he tells us about the form and contents of this new type of poetry.

Wordsworth, in the beginning, states the necessity of bringing about a revolution in the realm of poetry as the Augustan poetry has become cliché. He painfully notices that the Eighteenth century poets have separated poetry from the grasp of common people. He resolves to liberate this poetry from the shackles of so- called classical doctrines. He, in collaboration with his friend Coleridge, begins to write poem for the people of all classes. Wordsworth thinks that the language of the Augustan poetry is highly artificial and sophisticated. That is why he suggests a new language for Romantic poetry. This is why he suggests a new language for Romantic poetry. This is why he suggests a new language for Romantic poetry. These attempt chiefly deals with Wordsworth’s views of poetry.

Wordsworth thinks that poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings. To him, the intensity of feelings is more important than the form.

To make poetry life like, he wants to use the language of common people as the common people express their feeling unfeignedly. But he tells about a selection, because common people use gross and unrefined language. So, he will purify the language of rustic people until it is ready for use.

Wordsworth seems to contradict his own views as he prefers a selection to the original language spoken by the rustic people.

T. S. Eliot, in his The Use of Poetry and the Use of Criticism, objects to Wordsworth’s view. Eliot tells that a poet should not imitate the language of a particular class because he ought to have a language of his own. Eliot’s view gains ground as Wordsworth in his later poems, fails to use his prescribed language. His diction is, in fact peculiar to him.

But Wordsworth’s definitions of poetry ad the poet are unique. He maintains that poetry is more philosophical than any other branch of knowledge. He likes the poet to a prophet who is endowed with a greater knowledge of life and nature.

The neo-classical poets consider the province of poetry to be the world of fictions. But for Wordsworth the province of poetry is the world of truth, not a world of make-believe. Wordsworth like Samuel Johnson believes that only “the manifestations of general truth” can please all people. That is why he rejects the hackneyed poetic style of the Augustan period.

Wordsworth differs with the neo-classical writers in his belief about the process of poetry. The neo-classical writers think that the poet’s mind is a sensitive but passive recorder of a natural phenomenon. But Wordsworth strongly opposes this view and thinks that the mind of the poet is never a passive recorder. In his view, the poet’s mind half creates the external world which he perceives. The external world is thus, in some degree, the very creation of human mind. Wordsworth seems to establish the fact that the poet’s mind and the external nature are both interlinked and interdependent. Wordsworth unlike the classicists can not separate the mind which suffers from the mind which composes.

Wordsworth points out the common characteristics of both poetry and science. But he places poetry over science for the fact that the large part of poetry is based on imagination. He beautifully discovers that science only appeal to intellect while poetry appeals to heart. For this, the pleasures of science are shared by few while the pleasures of poetry are open to all. Again the truth of science is subject to change while poetry does not suffer from such threat.

Wordsworth breaks with the classical theory of poetry when he advocates for the intensity of emotion. To him, reason is not at all important. This is a subjective view.

It cannot be said that Wordsworth is absolutely right in his theory of poetry. But it must be recognized that his views are innovative and creative.

His rejection of classical doctrines leads to the creation of a new type of poetry which prefers him emotions to reason. As a result a group of talented poet’s has emerged in the province of English poetry. At the same time, he has contributed to the field of literary criticism. If Blake is considered to be the precursor of romantic poetry, Wordsworth and Coleridge are the two early exponents of romantic poetry. And it is wise of Wordsworth to form a ground for this new poetry through the Preface to the Lyrical Ballads.

Wordsworth's Glorification of Rustic and the Ordinary in his Preface to the Lyrical Ballad

In his Preface to the Lyrical Ballad, Wordsworth tells that he had chosen low and rustic life for treatment in his poems. He chose this life because, according to him, in that condition the essential passions of the heart find a better soul in which they can attain their maturity. In humble and rustic life the essential passions of the persons are less under restraint and therefore express themselves in a plainer and more emphatic language.

Elementary Feeling

Wordsworth also says that the humble and rustic life and the elementary feelings of human beings co-exist in a state of greater simplicity and can therefore be more accurately contemplated and more forcibly communicated. The manners of rural life germinate from those elementary feelings, and because of the necessary character of rural occupations, those manners are more easily comprehended. Finally in humble and rustic life, the passions of men are incorporated with the beautiful and permanent form of nature.

Living in Countryside

Thus in Wordsworth’s opinion, person living in the country side and pursuing rural occupations are the best fitted for portrayal in poetry because these people live in an environment which is more favorable to the growth and development of the essential passions of the human heart and because in this environment people do no suffer from any inhabitations and therefore speak a plainer and more forceful language. These people lead simple lives and their feelings are of an elementary kind. They do not have the vanity which people in the cities possess. These people live in contract with the beautiful and permanent objects of nature (mountains, streams, trees, flowers etc.) This contract favors the natural maturing of the feelings and passions in the hearts of these people.

Simplicity

Wordsworth collects all the traces of vivid excitement which are to be found in the pastoral world. Simplicity is to be the keynote of his theme as also of his style. He is to treat the things of everyday life, to open out “the soul of little and familiar things.” In We are Seven , the poet talks with a little girl who tells him of her brothers and sisters. In another poem, a female vagrant tells the artless tale of her life. Another poem concerns a shepherd, “a Crael by name,” and another pertains to a leech-gatherer. Thus Wordsworth shows that even in the poorest lives there is matter for poetry, schemes that can stir the imagination and move the emotions. Thus Wordsworth democratizes poetry. This democratic outlook is something new in poetry. He seeks his subject among forsake women, old men in distress, children and crazy persons, in whom the primary instincts are emotions showed themselves in their simplest and most recognizable form.

Corrupted World

It is to a large extent, the corruption of civilized society which makes Wordsworth choose his subject from humble and rustic life. In choosing them from rustic rather than urban life he is influenced, no doubt, by the fact that he himself is country bred. He is convinced that among humble and rustic folk, the essential passions of the heart fid a better place to mature in and are more durable. There is the closer intimacy which isolation forces on rural households; there is the sharing of common tasks and even, in the shepherds’ life, of common dangers. There are other virtues also like contentment, neighborliness, ad charity, which can flourish in the kindly society of the country.

Coleridge’s View

Coleridge in his Biographia Literaria analyses Wordsworth’s theory regarding the choice of theme. Coleridge thinks differently on this subject. He does not believe that characters should necessarily be chosen from low and rustic life. He does not believe that a close contact with the beautiful and permanent objects of nature produces any wholesome effect on the rustic persons. He does not even believe that Wordsworth has followed his own theory loosely in his poems. He does not believe that rustic life necessarily helps the formation of healthy feelings and a reflected mind. In fact, the negation of rustic life put as many obstacles in the way of this formation as the sophistication of city life does.

Coleridge has certainly argued his case well. But there are certain considerations which he has not taken into account. Wordsworth’s aim is to find the best soil for the essential passions. By avoiding artifice, he looks for simplicity. He has found poet extravagantly pre-occupied with the affairs of nymphs and goddesses. He therefore wants to turn his attention to the emotions of village girls and of peasants. Wordsworth is not trying to unite familiar anecdotes on nursery tales; he is seeking the fundamentals of human life by contemplating it in its simplest forms.

Yet the fact remains that Wordsworth’s theory has a limiting effect on poetry. The democratization of the theme of poetry is certainly to be welcomed, but to confine the poet only to humble and rustic life is to debar him from the rest of life. Human life is very wide and humble. Rural life is only one sphere of human life.

So, in conclusion, we can say that Wordsworth’s theory of language is not without its faults. But at the same time its merit cannot be ignored. It has a far reaching importance. It changes the tendency of having much flown diction for poetry.

Wordsworth’s Defination of Poet and Poetry as Expressed in his Preface Lyrical Ballads

In Preface to Lyrical Ballads Wordsworth expresses his opinion about the function of a poet and the subject matter of poetry. He rejects the classical concept in his attitude towards poet and poetry. He holds a romantic view in both the cases.

The Neo- classical poets have expressed their allegiance/ obedience to the classical rules as set by Aristotle. According to the rules the poets are to depend on reason and arguments. There is no scope for any imaginative expression of feeling and emotion. Therefore, the subjects of the classical poets don’t consent the common human feelings. They are of separate type reflecting only the lives of the Aristocratic people of the society. William Wordsworth has painfully observed this sad picture of English poetry. Therefore he makes an attempt to extend the area of poetry by including subjective elements and describing the natural objects that are contributing silently to our lives and supplying different feelings to our senses and sensibilities.

Poetry

William Wordsworth says that he has selected incidents and situations of common life. He describes them by selection of incidents and situations of common life. He describes them by selection of language really used by men. In the past this ordinary life of the ordinary people has never been a subject of poetry. For the first time he democratizes poetry and gives a universal appeal to it. People living in the modern cities are very much artificial and far away from the simplicity of nature. Therefore, they don’t express the reality of human life. They suffer from social vanity. Artificiality predominates in them. But the villagers are very simple and free from social vanity. Wordsworth says that in Lyrical Ballads, humble and rustic life has been chosen as the theme of poetry because the essential passions of the heart find a better soul in which they can attain their maturity in the humble state of life. Wordsworth comments that humble and rustic life holds simplicity, serenity and tranquility. The rustic people express their feelings and emotion through simple, unelaborated and unsophisticated way. Their language is more passionate, more vivid and more emphatic. The language of the rustics, according to William Wordsworth is more philosophical and permanent than the language used by the city dwellers and the earlier poets.

Poetry should express common human feelings and there should be no restriction in the expression of the experiences of the senses and sensibilities. Wordsworth defines poetry as the spontaneous overflow of the powerful feelings. It is the poet’s business to embody in their poetry the general passions of men. Wordsworth avoids the use of personifications of abstract ideas and serious diction in his poems so far as possible for making poetry intelligible to all types of readers. The language of his poetry is near to that of prose. The incidents of life, the natural objects around us and the common feelings of men as well as our sorrows and happiness, failure and success should get a ready appeal in poetry without false description. Wordsworth says, “Poetry sheds no tears, such as angels weep, but natural and human tears.” Another important idea of Wordsworth about poetry is that the function of poetry is to give pleasure to readers by presenting the incidents and situations of their lives in a fascinating and unusual way with a color of imagination. Therefore Wordsworth agrees with Aristotle, “Poetry is the most philosophical of all writings. The subject of poetry is general and operative truth which is its own testimony.” According to J. C. Smith, an eminent critic, “The nature of poetry will appear more clearly when we have considered its end or purpose, or the function of the poet in a civil society.”

Wordsworth establishes a relation between man and nature in his poetry. Therefore he opines that poetry is the image of man and nature. It is an acknowledgement of the beauty of the universe. Poetry, to Wordsworth, is a powerful media of supplying knowledge and pleasure to mankind. He considers that man and nature are essentially adapted to each other. Therefore, man has emotional, philosophical, moral and spiritual connection to nature. The poet’s business is to describe human life in its very form and to establish a relationship between man and universe. So, Wordsworth says that poetry is the first and last of all knowledge- it is as immortal as the heart of ma.

Poet 

Wordsworth defines a poet as a man of more comprehensive soul. A poet is different from other men, because he/she has a more lively sensibility. And his emotions and passions are more enthusiastic, tenderer and more powerful. He has a greater knowledge of human nature. The poet is a man speaking to men. But the poet is not only a social instrument but an individual, pleased with his own passions and volitions. The poet has a greater degree of imaginative power than other men, a power of looking from heaven to earth and earth to heaven.

The insight of the poet is higher than other people. That is why, a poet can create new ideas and present them to us with images and symbols. The poet’s curiosity and interest in life is intense. Therefore, the poet depicts human life in different ways. His responsibility is great because, what other people can’t think or see, he is to present the incredible and invisible images to the readers. Other people also feel and think that but they don’t have the diversity of their sense perception as the poet has, that is why, the poet’s soul is very powerful and creative. The poet must have the knowledge of human life and human society because his main study is man society. The poet seeks the truth about life and nature. His main purpose is to give pleasure by painting out the different branches of knowledge of this vast universe. 

The poet creates characters and the characters are the spokesmen of his ideas. Wordsworth’s idea about the poet is romantic ad democratic. He says that the poet shouldn’t live in a lofty height. Rather he must be one of the common human beings. He should feel what others feel and accordingly he should describe the common feelings and passions. Like the scientist or any other creative man the poet rejoices over his own invention because the purpose of all inventions and discoveries is to give pleasure. The poet also describes the real incidents that we are facing daily. Moreover, by the power of his creative imagination, the poet creates significant images to sharp our senses ad sensibilities, and to enhance our knowledge about life.

Thus Wordsworth elaborately describes the function of poetry and of the poet in his critical essay Preface to Lyrical Ballads. In both the cases he avoids classical tendencies and adopts romantic attitude.