Wow. Preface to Lyrical Ballads... that was a challenge. Not that it was difficult to comprehend so much as the redundancy wearing on my nerves. Wordsworth did have some interesting things to say, though, so I'll overlook the ridiculous amount of time it took me to finish it. First thing of note I found was his description of a poet. "He is a man speaking to men," but also is a man with "more lively sensibility, more enthusiasm and tenderness, who has a greater knowledge of human nature, and a more comprehensive soul..". At first, it sounds as if Wordsworth placed poets above regular men. But as he continues to extol the many virtues and characteristics of poets, he writes that poets are essentially the same as any other man. This was what caught my eye. Every man is a poet, in a sense. They all possess knowledge of human nature and a comprehensive soul, but what seperates poets from the rest of the population is the degree. The degree to which one man knows human nature is greater than that of another man, so by Wordsworth's definition the first man is more suited to be a poet.
I have not yet read the poems this preface proceeds, but I wonder if they are nearly as radical as he makes them sound. He takes pains to remind the readers that they should be read and criticized a certain way, and not compared to certain other poetry, even though he repeatedly asks us to judge for ourselves. Should prove to be interesting. I just hope they're not so tedious to get through.
