New Modes of Poetic Discourse
New Modes of Poetic Discourse in the Poetry of the Romantic Period: Wordsworth,
Blake and Coleridge Wordsworth and Coleridge, in the Preface to the 1800 version
of the Lyrical Ballads, state the following: "The majority of the following
poems are to be considered as experiments. They were written chiefly with
a view to ascertain how far the language of conversation in the middle and
lower classes of society is adapted to the purposes of poetic pleasure" (Wordsworth
and Coleridge, 3). As two of the poets who began the Romantic movement in
poetry, their stated goal can be taken to have been a major interest of poets
generally in the early Romantic period: namely, to introduce new modes of
poetic discourse. Poetry in the early Romantic period was concerned with change.
Stephen Pickett, in his introduction to The Romantics, says, ".it was clear
that literature stood in a highly complex relationship to a world caught up
in an unprecedented process of change" (6). Three early Romantic poets in
particular- Wordsworth, Coleridge and Blake- can be said to have jointly introduced
similar new modes of poetic discourse. If poetic discourse is defined as the
way in which the poet communicates with the reader, then the changes initiated
by these early Romantic poets have to do with the language used, the subject
matter, the sentiment expressed, and the tone and mood of the poems. The poetry
of these three poets is marked by the simplicity of its language and form,
the familiarity of its subject matter, the universality of sentiment, and
the intimacy of tone and mood that it aims for.
In terms of the language used, the Preface goes a long way towards explaining
the difference between the early Romantic poetry and the poetry that preceded
it. While earlier poets such as Pope, Dryden and Milton had chosen to use
elaborate classical forms and language for their poetry, these three early
Romantic poets sought to make poetry more accessible and intimate. By doing
this they were breaking significantly with the poets who had preceded them.
In the 1800 Preface to Lyrical Ballads , Wordsworth expresses his acknowledgement
of this break with tradition:
It is supposed that by the act of writing in verse, an author makes a
formal agreement that he will gratify certain known habits of association.
This exponent or symbol held forth by metrical language must in different
eras of literature have excited very different expectations- for example.
in the age of Shakespeare and Beaumont and Fletcher, and that of Donne and
Cowley, or Dryden, or Pope. I am certain it will appear to many persons that
I have not fulfilled the terms of an engagement thus voluntarily contracted"
(Wordsworth (b), 251-2).
These Romantic poets sought to make poetry more personal and accessible by
using simple- and, to some, vulgar- language- "The language of men" (Wordsworth
(c), 360), and simple poetic forms. They wished to avoid poetry which twisted
and distorted the natural flow of language. As Wordsworth describes it:
There will also be found in these volumes little of what is usually called
poetic diction: I have taken as much pains to avoid it as others ordinarily
take to produce it. to bring my language near to the language of men. (Wordsworth
(c), 360).
A good example of this is Wordsworth's We Are Seven. Look, for example, at
the simplicity of the language in the opening stanza:
A simple child, dear brother Jim, That lightly draws its breath, And feels
its life in every limb, What should it know of death? (Wordsworth (e), 231)
Compare this to, for example, the complex opening of Paradise Lost. Wordsworth
has dispensed with the complex sentence structure comprising of many meandering
clauses, and with the twisting of phrases to match a verse pattern. The above
stanza is short and simple, and flows easily and naturally off the tongue,
remarkably close to everyday speech. The same can be seen in Coleridge's This
Lime-Tree Bower, My Prison, which opens:
Well, they are gone, and here must I remain, This lime-tree bower my prison!.
(Coleridge (b), 551).
Again, the language is simple and flows naturally. The same can be applied
to Blake's A Cradle Song, which takes the easy, simple style of a lullaby:
Sweet dreams, form a shade O'er my lovely infant's head; Sweet dreams of pleasant
streams Be happy, silent, moony beams (Blake (a), 65).
Blake's verse is natural and pure, like that of Wordsworth and Coleridge.
In this sense, the poetry of Wordsworth and Coleridge fulfils the expectations
presented in the title Lyrical Ballads- the pieces have the simplicity of
lyrics and the flowing rhythm of ballads.
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