In 1800, Wordsworth added on long Preface to Lyrical Ballads in which he discusses the aims of the volume and his theory of poetic production. We might consider how his statements here inflect his practice of drawing on Dorothy Wordsworth's journals for materials:
from the Preface:
p. 177
“the language of a large portion of every good poem, even of the most elevated character, must necessarily, except with reference to the metre, in no respect differ from that of good prose, ... [and] some of the most interesting parts of the best poems will be found to be strictly the language of prose when prose is well written.”
p. 178
"I have at all times endeavoured to look steadily at my subject, consequently I hope it will be found that there is in these Poems little falsehood of description, and that my ideas are expressed in language fitted to their respective importance."
p. 183
"I have said that Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility: the emotion is contemplated till by a species of reaction the tranquility gradually disappears, and an emotion, similar to that which was before the subject of contemplation, is gradually produced"
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI can definitely see how Wordsworth's poetic theory would support his tendency towards drawing on Dorothy's journals, and oddly enough, after reading these statements it almost seems as if some of the ideals/practices of the Scientific Revolution have snuck their way into the siblings' writing styles (though I'm not sure if this is too much of a stretch. I’m not suggesting that this was intentional but rather reflective of a common shift in writing style). Regarding the first point, if Wordsworth values the type of language found in prose, obviously he wouldn't be opposed to drawing on prose for his poems. Dorothy's journals provide descriptions that are beautiful and rich without seeming flowery and stylized, and I think Wordsworth's reverence towards prose reflects a rejection of the exceedingly ornamental language of the poetry of his contemporaries. Another one of Wordsworth's goals was to adopt the language of the common man in his poems, so perhaps he feels prose is more similar to how language is used in daily life than the language of the more stylized of poetry of the day. Even though Wordsworth attempted to distance himself from the emphasis on scientific rationalism that dominated the 18th century thought, his use of language seems to reflect some of the principals of the Scientific Revolution which suggest that writing should be more clear and concise allowing for a more accurately depiction of the subject under observation. During this period scientists also began to emphasize the importance of observation in developing their theories instead of relying on logical conjecture so that they could accurately depict the phenomenon they studied. This seems to be in line with Wordsworth's aims to "look steadily at [his] subject" and prevent "falsehood of description." Dorothy's journals describe day-to-day events and reflect a desire to catalogue what she observes almost like a field journal. The comment about his use of “language fitted to [the] respective importance” of his subjects was interesting to me – I wonder if this is a defensive statement, perhaps arguing that important subjects don't require elevated language? (They definitely don’t in scientific writing!).
ReplyDelete