In what ways can Wordsworth’s Preface
to Lyrical Ballads be considered a manifesto of the Romantic Movement? Discuss
with close reference to the text.
Answer: 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.
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