1. PREFACE TO LYRICAL BALLADS

2. PREFACE TO LYRICAL BALLADS
It was written in 1800 by W. Wordsworth.
It was considered the manifesto of Romanticism in English and European culture.
In his preface Wordsworth explaned their intentions and aims.
This preface was to become one of the most famous documents of literary criticism in English literature.

3. In “Preface to Lyrical Ballads” Wordsworth explain his point of view on different topics:
The subject of poetry.
The language of poetry.
The identity of the poet.
The creative act of the poet.

4. THE SUBJECT OF POETRY
The poem should deal with incidents and situations from common life.
Thanks to imagination, ordinary things should be presented to the mind in a inusual way.
Low and rustic life was generally chosen, because in that condition, the essential passions of the heart find a better soil in which they can attain maturity.

5. THE LANGUAGE OF POETRY
The language “really used by men” is adopted.
A language of common life convey feelings and notions in simple and unelaborated expressions.
A simple language is accordingly more permeant than a philosophical one.

6. THE IDENTITY OF THE POET
The poet is a man speaking to men.
It is a man with more lively sensibility, more enthusiasm and tenderness than others men.
He has a greater knowledge of human nature, and more comprehensive soul, than are supposed to be common among mankind.

7. THE CREATIVE ACT OF THE POET
Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings:it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquillity.
Irene Fattori 5C