Wordsworth's Contribution

In one of my very first blogs I discussed my frustration with the language of Emerson's work as I felt as though the form of his prose did not, in fact, reinforce the content which he was aiming to express. I found Emerson's work more frustrating than pleasurable to read as it, quite frankly, made me feel idiotic in my understanding of the make-up of the English language. Perhaps, in it's own way, this frustration has been a good thing for me as it has taught me the necessity of having an extended vocabulary. However, I can honestly say I found no pleasure in reading Emerson, apart from wondering at his unique way of placing words next to one another. On the contrary, I found him, and have always found him, rather prideful and thus, to use more modern language, a turn off to literary theory and literature as a whole. Although this may sound like blasphemy to some English students and professors, I know for a fact there are many other students who feel the same way as I do, giving me the courage to state out right that I do not like Emerson or his writing.

After coming to this conclusion, it has been refreshing for me to discover a Romantic author who appreciates the importance of speaking the "common" language and goes even further to exalt simply vocabulary. In an amazing quote taken from his Preface to Lyrical Ballads, Wordsworth expresses this importance beautifully when he so eloquently (and simplistically) states:

"Accordingly, such a language, arising out of repeated experience and regular feelings, is more permanent, and a far more philosophical language, than that which is frequently substituted for it by poets, who think that they are conferring honour upon themselves and their art, in proportion as they separate themselves from the sympathies of men, and indulge in arbitrary and capricious habits of expression, in order to furnish food for fickle tastes, and fickle appetites, of their own creation" (Wordsworth, Preface to Lyrical Ballads).

Could this statement be any more beautiful or true? So many "poets" waste their time writing in vain only to prove how brilliant they are instead of using their gifts to relate with those around them, a feat which possess far more brilliancy than any over-done sentence I have ever read. The most wonderful part about Wordsworth is that all of his poem reinforce this opinion. In all of Wordsworth's poetry easy and simple poetry is used to express that which he has experienced and felt. But doesn't this make the poem dull? you might ask. On the contrary! To me it makes each line and stanza beautiful in a pure and elegant way. When I am done with Wordsworth I can say that for once my reading experience has been a pleasurable one! Everybody knows that rare, intellectual-sounding words are supposed to make a writer look like a genius. But that is just it, he will only look like a genius. True genius is found in an author who can create beauty and intelligent meaning out of ordinary, common language. And, not only will he be a genius, but he will be a hero of the common people as well.

*Excerpt from Wordsworth taken from the The Norton Anthology of English Literature: The Romantic Period.

Links:
Wordsworth's Poems
Wordsworth Poetry Archive