Wordsworth’s View of Poetry and the Poet

Wordsworth’s View of Poetry and the Poet is the manifesto of Romanticism. A manifesto is a text where the poet makes a declaration of his intention. Wordsworth gives the reader some information about the steps that create a Romantic poem.

First he reflects on the content of the poem: the romantic poet has to describe the events of every-day life. Generally it is set in the country side because in the period of industrialization the country was considered a healthier place than the city; then the rural life was the perfect place where poets can reflect on themselves, on the society’s changes and on human emotions. He has a direct contact with Nature that reflects all the human feelings.

The second point is about what kind of language should be used. The Romantic poem has to be wrote in a language really used by man: direct, immediate and simple. In this way also simple people can understand it.

The third passage is about who the poet is. The poet is a person who has a great sensibility but he has also human qualities that make him interact with other people. When the poet recollects a memory in tranquility in order to relive an emotion he feels pleasure. Than he hopes to communicate the strong emotion to reader. In fact the goal of Romantic poetry is actually this sensation.

The last step is the explanation of the creative act. It is a spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings. It’s spontaneous because it hasn’t a perfect structure like the poetry before Romanticism, it has to be born from direct experiences. The poet lives the experience, it affects him, then he remembers that moment few time later and finally the poet revives that emotion  and his heart is full of pleasure.