Idea of common man's language in Wordsworth's Preface to Lyrical Ballads

 Lyrical Ballads is a collection of poetry by William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge and that was originally published in 1798. Wordsworth’s preface to this collection was composed for its second edition, published in 1801, and expanded for its third edition in 1802; in it, he outlines and justifies his poetic choices and beliefs. Lyrical Ballads is considered by many to be the beginning of the Romantic movement in literature, and the preface describes and demonstrates many of the characteristics of Romantic poetry. 

In Wordsworth’s 1880 Preface he sets out his poetic position. He emphasizes various points stating his opinion regarding poetry of the time. I will focus on the “ordinary”, the role of poetry and the poet, and the poet’s response to public taste and opinion. 

Ordinary life is the best subject for poetry. (Wordsworth uses common man's language.) The great innovation was to be in the language. The poetic diction of the eighteenth century poets, sought to substitute the selection of the language really used by men. 

Wordsworth’s aim and desire was to choose incidents and situations from common life, so the reason that he gave was that the rustic people were close to nature and soil and hence rural common people  are free from artificiality and vanity.

Everyday language is best suited for poetry , expression of feeling is more important than action or plot.

"Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of emotion" that "takes its origin from emotion, recollected in tranquility." - William Wordsworth

Poetry cannot be produced by strictly adhering to the rules laid down by the Classicists. It must flow out naturally and smoothly from the soul of the poet. But it must be noted that good poetry, according to Wordsworth, is never an immediate expression of such powerful emotions.

Wordsworth aim in writing the ‘Preface’ was not to give an elaborate account of his theory of poetry or to make a systematic defense of his point-of-view. He wanted to introduce his poems with a prefatorial argument He added the ‘Preface’ because he felt that his poems were different in theme and style, and therefore, he should not present them without an introduction. It is a well observed phenomenon that every new poet struggles to carve a niche. That is what Wordsworth tried to do with the help of the ‘Preface’.

Wordsworth's inspiration for writing lyrical ballads is that they emphasize the status of poetry as a form of art. He intends to enlighten his readers as to the depths of human emotion.

The principal object then which Wordsworth proposed to readers in these Poems was to make the incidents of common life interesting by tracing in them, truly though not ostentatiously, the primary laws of our nature: chiefly as far as regards the manner in which we associate ideas in a state of excitement. Low and rustic life was generally chosen because in that situation the essential passions of the heart find a better soil in which they can attain their maturity, are less under restraint, and speak a plainer and more emphatic language; because in that situation our elementary feelings exist in a state of greater simplicity and consequently may be more accurately contemplated and more forcibly communicated; because the manners of rural life germinate from those elementary feelings; and from the necessary character of rural occupations are more easily comprehended; and are more durable; and lastly, because in that situation the passions of men are incorporated with the beautiful and permanent forms of nature. 

Wordsworth argues that a good poetry doesn't have to be overly complicated or ornamental and grand in order to capture readers' imaginations. Their preoccupation with imagination and emotions made their poetry primarily subjective. This was in contrast with the classical preference for objectivity in poetry. For them poetry was not genuine if it was not personal.

Poetry became closer to everyday life of common man. The ‘poetic diction’ of the eighteenth century was rejected as artificial and unnatural. the ‘Preface’ remains one of the most significant critical documents in the history of English Criticism. It has been a source from which the next generation critics have derived ideas and exploited them to the fullest.

”Return to nature” was the 18th century poet's motto. They turned away from the artificial urban life and found refuge in the country life and nature. They worshipped nature. Love of nature for them meant love of mankind, humanism and a more world view that encompassed the idea of freedom and equality.