William Wordsworth proposed his principal object while writing the poems in “Lyrical Ballads” as a goal for not only himself as an author, but for those poets who wanted their work and emotions to be better understood by all readers. In his preface to “Lyrical Ballads” Wordsworth stated he wanted to, “choose incidents and situations from common life, and to relate or describe them, throughout, as far as was possible, in a selection of language really used by men; and, at the same time, to throw over them a certain coloring of imagination, whereby ordinary things should be presented to the mind in an unusual way.” This idea and way of thinking structured the way in which he wrote his poetry and the way it was received by the reader. More importantly, by incorporating the idea of nature heavily throughout the poems was a method to show how beautiful forms of nature can be used to convey feelings and sympathy.

Analyzing one of William Wordsworth’s poems titled “Nutting” it is evident he firmly stands by his proposed principal object goal of ensuring the common man’s language is used to depict everyday life that men could relate to. The poem begins with the phrase “It seems a day, (I speak of one from many singled out)” and then goes on as a well structured stream of consciousness. Even the first words of this poem show Wordsworth’s awareness to the way human beings think and daydream. It’s as if the story begins like a flashback that moves chronologically showing the emotion and feeling of the character. This second part is just as important considering Wordsworth wanted to touch on the human soul’s emotions and ensure his poems portrayed the same feelings the reader could relate to.

In “Nutting”, Wordsworth writes of an experience any human could imagine having and the feeling of being young and connected with nature. He writes, “And o’er the pathless rocks, I forced my way Until, at length, I came to one dear nook Unvisited, where not a broken bough Droop’d with its wither’d leaves, ungracious sign Of devastation, but the hazels rose Tall and erect, with milk-white clusters hung, A virgin scene!–A little while I stood, Breathing with such suppression of the heart”. The way Wordsworth uses nature to depict such powerful emotions that are lasting and recognizable by the reader can be seen when he describes the scene of showing up to the unvisited nook where the trees have been ruined. An experience anyone could have when exploring the world and thinking it’s a magical place that will always stay youthful and perfect. There are so many emotions such as childhood, compassion, nurture, adventure, and recollection felt in this poem. These are all emotions that the common everyday man has experienced and can relate to. Additionally, it’s the nature that connects the reader to the poem and to the emotions.

It’s also important to note that Wordsworth is careful in his syntax choice when writing such a descriptive poem about damage, youth, and growth because the structure is like a stream of consciousness. Most lines being separated by commas show the reader how in the moment and thought the poet is in, especially when talking about emotions. To be so caught up with remembering just one specific day out of all days when remembering emotions, it’s clear that the memories with nature are the ones the poet and reader both come back to. With that said, in his preface Wordsworth writes that poems with, “similar construction, an indistinct perception perpetually renewed of language closely resembling that of real life” are the ones that are associated with pleasure. This is also notable in “Nutting” as the stream of thoughts is similar to that of what common men experience when having emotions during a flashback memory and therefore bring pleasure to the reader. While the pleasure felt in this poem is more bittersweet as the nut tree harvest was ruined for the next year due to the careless breaking of the trees, it’s not the idea that nut harvesting itself is important to remember but the emotions associated with the pleasure of remembering that time of life. Having the thoughts run on without breaks between stanzas shows the difference between a poem like this, a run on like human thoughts, and a poem which contains metered rhymes and stanzas. Wordsworth was careful to differentiate between the two when it came to portraying emotions, nature, and the common man’s life.

When William Wordsworth wrote the Preface to the Lyrical Ballads he wanted poets to have three take aways which were simply for poets to use clear and distinguishable language, use nature to connect humans, and to write poems that withdraw emotion from the reader. Wordsworth suggests that if these rules are followed it would be easier for readers and writers alike to directly express or understand their emotions. We can also assume that he also thought using such tactics would help works become more appealing to the average person. Wordsworth was a man of his word because in his poem Lucy Gray, he successfully applies the devices previously suggested.

Throughout the entire poem readers have a clear understanding of what is going on. The language is not used to impress, rather it is used to set a scene that every reader would recognize. The connectivity of the language grasps readers instead of pushing them away, like most wordy pieces would. He uses his language to take the reader on the journey with Lucy and then transitions smoothly into then having the perspective of the Parents, and he does all of this using simplistic language. Though a reader today would have a bit of trouble understanding what exactly all of the words mean, Wordsworth’s principle about simplistic language still applies for the average 1800 reader every word or slang would be understandable, and luckily for us 21st century folk we have footnotes.

When Wordsworth writes that poetry should derive some emotion from the reader the best way to completely understand what he means is to read the poem Lucy Gray. We know that the story Wordsworth is telling in the poem is based off of a story he had heard from his sister, so we can assume that the story of Lucy Gray was a well known story, at least in the town that Wordsworth was from. Though the emotional attachment to the actual Lucy Gray lies in a random town the story still has the ability to pull emotion from all types of readers because Wordsworth chose specific words that causes readers mirror the emotions of the characters in the poem. This is apparent from the beginning of the poem when he writes,

“You yet may spy the Fawn at play,

The Hare upon the Green;

But the sweet face of Lucy Gray

Will never more be seen.” (9-12)

He starts the poem by placing images of animals we are all familiar with and then shoves a disturbing realization right after. He continues to pull at the readers emotion throughout the entire poem especially when we switch perspectives from Lucy to the parents. When he writes, “The wretched Parents all that night/ Went shouting far and wide;” (33-34) We as readers feel the emotion of the distressed parents, we worry just as they do. Though this poem may pull sad emotions from readers it perfectly encapsulates what Wordsworth was trying to convey in the Preface, all readers would be able to relate to the poem and that is what makes it great.

William Wordsworth provides multitudes of arguments and ideals in “Preface to Lyrical Ballads” about the nature of poetry. The poem “Lucy Gray” by Wordsworth is a prime example that highlights these ideals he set out in Lyrical Ballads. The principle object in these poems, according to Wordsworth is to relate incidents from everyday life and describes them “in a selection of language really used by men; and, at the same time, to throw over them a certain coloring of imagination”. “Lucy Gray” does this in a layered way.

“Lucy Gray” is written in “a selection of language really used by men” in two important and distinct ways. The first is obvious in terms of Wordsworth’s diction. It is straightforward and to the point with little flowery language to pad the lines. For example, “The sweetest Thing that ever grew/ Beside a human door!” is a line that is written plainly, where anyone could understand its meaning. The second way in which “Lucy Gray” is written with the common tongue in mind is its subject matter. This poem is written about a young girl going missing in the wilderness during a storm. This story of of a child going missing is a tragedy that everyday people living in small rural areas would be familiar with. This story relates to the soft spot of people and would be something small town people would be intimately linked too.

The other ideal that Wordsworth considered to be part of the principle object of his poems is to describe everyday events with “a certain coloring of imagination”. Wordsworth takes the tragedy of Lucy’s disappearance and turns it into something less tragic, but a more supernatural and peaceful ending with no real answer. “Yet some maintain that to this day/ She is a living Child,/ That you may see sweet Lucy Gray/ Upon the lonesome Wild”. The missing child and death that Wordsworth based this poem off of has shifted from certain tragedy, into a story full of imagination and emotion that isn’t just sadness. This ending defines Wordsworth’s idea that “the human mind is capable of being excited without the application of gross and violent stimulants; and he must have a very faint perception of its beauty and dignity.” The supernatural end to Lucy Gray excites the audience without giving her a traumatic end and embraces the beauty of mystery and oneness of nature. This dignified end gives the audience a sense of peace and appreciation for nature without receiving an answer about Lucy’s fate.

In William Wordsworth’s “Preface to Lyrical Ballads”, he discusses his takes on poetry, but also the connection that the poet and the work the poet has to nature. He defines poetry, who is a poet, what type of language they use, but also how the content of the poem should be brought before an audience. Those are the ideas that he brings to the table and one of the poems that captures his ideas is Wordsworth’s poem “Nutting”.

            In the poem, the speaker goes to gather nuts. Wordsworth puts a lot into his descriptions of the surrounding nature that the speaker encounters. Those descriptors about nature is what drives this piece into Wordsworth’s ideas, but also the language is used in a way that it stands the test of time. It is easy to understand across the generations, compared to other writers. One of the lines with a lot of good descriptive imagery is, “And with my cheek on one of those green stones / That fleec’d with moss, beneath the shady tree, / Lay round me scatter’d like a flock of sheep…” The use of language in this quote gives the reader an image to see and Wordsworth shows them a slice of nature. Not only does he use nature just to create images, but he also uses it to show how we should see nature on a more spiritual level. At the end of the poem he describes something otherworldly, “In gentleness of heart with gentle hand / Touch—-for there is a Spirit in the woods.” That quote almost serves as a warning to protect nature. Bringing that back to Wordsworth’s ideas, it lines up with how poetry and nature have a deep connection.

            In terms of the poet and why this piece exists, Wordsworth, through one interpretation of his work, is trying to convey the destruction a simple act could do to something so beautiful. In thinking about the images Wordsworth conveyed, they were images of a peaceful little spot, but the speaker disrupted that peace and beauty when he hacked off the branch. It almost is also like thinking about how humans have corrupted something so pure as a beautiful land scape and have corrupted and destroyed it for resources. If that is an interpretation that speaks to many readers, with the current events in the world, it could still have extreme weight. With that weight being possibly felt today, this makes the piece something extraordinary because of it standing the test of time. When a subject matter like this continues to have that relevance, and is written well, lines up with what Wordsworth thinks poetry should be about. Not just fancy words that someone puts together, but something that will make the reader think and carry weight.

            Though this is Wordsworth’s own poem and his ideas on display, it makes sense for most of his ideas to be present within the piece and not challenging them.

By: Zoë Smith

In the past two weeks of school we have came across many interesting and well done readings. However not all of them applied to the ideals set forth in the preface for a lyrical ballad quite like Lucy Grey did. To review, the preface discussed the importance that poetry is best when it is written for the common man and is not super complex, that the poetry involves nature and in my opinion the most important part that poetry is considered an art form. These all apply to Lucy Grey because the girl who goes missing in it goes missing in nature and is never found. This story is also told in very simple words so that readers of all backgrounds and ages could understand it, it also replicates in art form because it is told like a story that has been passed on for centuries and therefore is part of culture.

In the “Preface to Lyrical Ballads” Wordsworth defines poetry as “the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings.” Wordsworth goes on to talk about what he believes the characteristics are that makeup a poet, what the “principle object” is, and how poets should abandon poetic diction and write in the language of the “common man.” However, do all poems follow Wordsworth’s ideas or do they contradict or complicate them, or do they follow something else entirely different? Well, lets look at the poem “This Lime-Tree Bower My Prison” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

            “This Lime-Tree Bower My Prison” by Coleridge is about everything he is seeing in a garden with a lime tree overhang, and about how he wishes he was able to go to the city with his friends. In this poem Coleridge talks about the nature surrounding him as he writes as well as the nature of the city. He compares the nature of the city to the natural nature outside of the city. Coleridge also personifies nature throughout the poem. Lastly, this poem is written in blank verse, however, this poem reads like a narrative and less like a normal setup of a poem. That being said let’s look at how Coleridge’s poem relates to Wordsworth’s ideas about poetry.

            Coleridge’s poem “This Lime-Tree Bower My Prison”, in my opinion, follows Wordsworth’s idea of poetry. Coleridge’s poem follows Wordsworth’s idea of poetry because Coleridge’s poem has very much abandoned poetic diction and is written with “common man” language. The common man can very much understand and relate to how Coleridge feels being trapped and unable to be with his friends. Also, how Coleridge personifies nature is very simple and not hidden behind metaphors and cryptic words that the common man may not understand. This also relates back to Wordsworth’s “principle object” of writing about situations found in everyday life and using language that would be used by men. Lastly, the way Coleridge writes show that he possesses some of Wordsworth’s poet characteristics. This is evident with the language Coleridge uses in his poem. The language shows that he is a man talking to men. It also shows lively sensibility to nature and the city. Coleridge’s language shows enthusiasm and tenderness towards nature and the city. Lastly, Coleridge’s language shows he has a volitions and passions he is pleased with. It is clear now, that Coleridge’s poem “This Lime-Tree Bower My Prison” follows Wordsworth’s ideas about poetry.

The “Preface to Lyrical Ballads” by William Wordsworth is a stepping stone for poetry in the Romanticism era. This preface covers many characteristics that should be held by lyrical ballads; such as relatability to the reader, commonly used casual language, and the ability to evoke emotion with said simplistic language by bringing “more enthusiasm and tenderness,” as stated by Wordsworth. These characteristics can be easily identified in Wordsworth’s poem “Lucy Gray.” 

Naturally, all poems do not follow these particular guidelines, but it is fascinating to see how they are shown in the work of Wordsworth as well as other poets such as Samuel Taylor Coleridge. At the end of the third paragraph of “Preface to Lyrical Ballads” Wordsworth briefly discusses some work done by his friend, Coleridge, and he talks about the presence of similarities in their work when he says “our opinions on the subject of poetry do almost entirely coincide.

The ballad of “Lucy Gray” by William Wordsworth tells the tale of a young girl getting lost in the woods on a snowy, stormy night. This notion of a child going missing is a universal fear, already making this poem relatable to the reader. In the third stanza of the poem, there is a foreshadowing of Lucy going missing when Wordsworth writes “You yet may spy the Fawn at play/The Hare upon the Green/But the sweet face of Lucy Gray/Will never more be seen.” This vague language in the last two lines of this stanza makes it clear to the reader that something is going to happen to Lucy Gray by the end of the poem. This theme of sadness and loss in common in a ballad, it usually serves as a legend or cautionary tale to its readers. 

As seen in the quote used in the paragraph above, Wordsworth uses simple language that can easily be understood by the common man. As a poet, Wordsworth felt that is work needed to be expressed and illustrated in “a selection of language really used by men” that way his audience could come from different educational backgrounds. In the lines above we see Wordsworth refer to woodlands creatures that hold a connotation of innocence; a fawn and a hare. Comparing these two virtuous animals to young Lucy Gray sheds light on the pure child that she was. In fact, the second stanza states that Lucy Gray was “The sweetest Thing that ever grew/Beside a human door!”

Not only is the language in the poem easy to comprehend but it also evokes emotions in readers; following the “Preface of Lyrical Ballads.” When Lucy Gray is compared to a fawn and a hare it is easy for the ready to create a connection with her, this comparison makes Lucy’s portrayal lovable and harmless, making her loss at the end of the poem even harder for readers to get over. Wordsworth’s talent to bring “more enthusiasm and tenderness” to the page with the use of such plain language is a talent that is still admired hundreds of years later.

Written by: Nick Schenken January 31, 2020

In these first two weeks of class, we have read several works of literature by many different British authors. One which particularly sticks out is the argument made in William Wordsworth’s preface to Lyrical Ballads. In this preface, Wordsworth pinpoints three primary guiding rules for composition such as that in Lyrical Ballads. He states that it essential for poetry to be about nature and life within nature and then goes on to say that he believes lyrical ballads are important, because they back reinforce the idea that poetry is indeed a form of art. His final reason is the one in which I would primarily like to focus on today. For his final guiding principle for composition, Wordsworth makes the claim that quality poetry never has to be super complex and filled with a wide variety of literary devices in order to make it effective and truly grasp a reader’s attention as well as their emotions. In other words, Wordsworth believes that simple, but deliberate, word choice and clean lines can make up some of the best poetry.

During week two of class, we read the poem, “The Lime-tree Bower my Prison,” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Coleridge in this poem exemplifies Wordsworth’s last point very well in this poem, by using very simple, easy to understand words, while also writing about nature, his own internal self-reflection, and human’s role within that environment. For example, in the final stanza of the poem, Coleridge writes, “and I watch’d/ Some broad and sunny leaf, and lov’d to see/ The shadow of the leaf and stem above/ Dappling its sunshine! And that walnut-tree/ Was richly ting’d, and a deep radiance lay/ Full on the ancient ivy, which usurps/ Those fronting elms, and now, with blackest mass/ Makes their dark branches gleam a lighter hue/ Through the late twilight: and though now the bat/ Wheels silent by, and not a swallow twitters, Yet still the solitary humble-bee/ Sings in the bean-flower! Henceforth I shall know/ That Nature ne’er deserts the wise and pure;” (l. 53-65). As we can see here in this passage, as previously mentioned, Coleridge is using extremely simple language, nothing too complex that would intentionally throw a reader off or confuse them. Instead, while maintaining these simple terms and lines, he is still able to say what he wishes to say and delivers a poem packed full of emotions and detail. Through this poem, Coleridge, ever-so elegantly backs up Wadsworth’s arguments about poetry and composition.

William Wordsworth was a famous poet whose Preface to Lyrical Ballads, which was published in 1800 along with a collection of poems, set out many principles that would guide poetry during the age of Romanticism.   Included in this preface was his opinions on poets, poetic diction, and the definition of poetry.  One of the poems included in the collection published with the preface was “Lucy Gray”, also written by Wordsworth.  The poem describes the story of Lucy Gray, a little girl that gets lost in the wilderness during a storm.  “Lucy Gray” fulfills many of the standards set out by Wordsworth in the Preface to Lyrical Ballads, and thus is a prime example of Wordsworth’s ideal poem.

                Wordsworth believed that poetry should appeal to the common man.  In the preface, he states that it was his intention to “choose incidents and situations from common life…in a selection of language really used by men”.  He held that poetry should be easily understood by the general public, and as a part of that, should include relatable situations.  Wordsworth based “Lucy Gray” on an actual girl who got lost in a snowstorm.  Even if his audience did not know of the event, they would likely be familiar with stories of missing children or children who died.  It is a situation that could happen to anyone, and as such fits his requirement that a poem deals with incidents from common life.  In addition to the content of the poem, Wordsworth uses simple, common language.  In the poem, he doesn’t use pompous vocabulary or abstract figurative language to describe the start of the new day, he simply states “At day-break on a hill they stood”.  By choosing a relatable situation and using familiar language, Wordsworth ensures that the audience doesn’t spend most of their time trying to understand what the poem says, allowing them to focus on other aspects of the poem.

                 In the preface, Wordsworth claims that the poet “considers man and nature as essentially adapted to each other”.  As such, it is not surprising that many of Wordsworth’s poems focus on  the relationship between man and nature.  “Lucy Gray” is no different.  The girl “dwelt on a wild Moor”, and the poem continuously brings up images of nature in the form of animals, the moon, a hill, and even the snowstorm that separates Lucy Gray from her parents.  At the end of the poem, it is said that some believe Lucy is still living in the wilderness.  Throughout the poem, nature is essential.  In fact, the events of the poem, even the rumors of Lucy still being alive, could not happen if the girl had never gone out into nature.  While nature is the reason for her misfortune, it also provides the conditions for her potential continued existence in the world.  The two are so intertwined that the poem easily demonstrates the relationship between man and nature that Wordsworth outlined in the preface.  There is the sense that the two belong together, whether in life or in death.  Nature is the driving force of “Lucy Gray”, and its influence, both positive and negative, shapes the narrative and emotional atmosphere of the poem.

                Wordsworth places a strong emphasis on feelings and passion in poetry.  He uses the preface to define the art form as “the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings” and asks readers to judge poetry “by his own feelings” and to not let other critics interfere with said feelings if readers are affected by the work.  The very topic of “Lucy Gray” is likely to evoke many feelings in the reader.  They feel scared for the girl when the storm starts, pity for the parents who lose their daughter, and sorrow for the girl who is lost.  The reader spends the entire poem filled with apprehension and dread for the tragedy that occurs at the end of the poem.  In addition to the subject matter,  Wordsworth uses emotional words such as “wretched”, “cry’d”, and “lonesome” to create empathy for Lucy Gray and her parents.  He makes the audience experience the characters’ emotions to stir up powerful feelings in his readers.  The gravity and the weight of the situation settles in through the simplicity of the story and the emotional language used to describe it.

William Wordsworth’s poem “Lucy Gray” is an excellent illustration of many of the points within his Preface to Lyrical Ballads.  It utilizes simple, everyday language and a relatable situation to make it understandable and appealing to the common man.  The relationship between Lucy Gray and nature in the events of the poem reflects Wordsworth’s belief that the interconnection between man and nature should be observed by poets.  Most importantly, the poem evokes strong emotions that Wordsworth considers essential to the very definition of poetry.  With “Lucy Gray”,  Wordsworth succeeded in adhering to his own principles of the kinds of poetry he wished to read and create in the dawning of a new age of literature.

“I have wished to keep the Reader in the company of flesh and blood, persuaded that by so doing I shall interest him”

Wordsworth’s “Lucy Gray” is a simple yet compelling poem to read and it embodies the key aspects of Wordsworth’s arguments about poetry in his preface to lyrical ballads. Wordsworth argues that good poetry must be in the common language and it must convey the most human feelings and passions.

On the topic of meter, Wordsworth has many particular things to say about its use in poetry. In the preface to lyrical ballads, he both heavily criticizes the use of meter and certain poetic language while also commending its beauty. He argues that in many respects, “the language of every good poem can in no respect differ from that of good Prose.” The language of a poem should be the same language that would be found in conversation.“ Lucy Gray is written in such a way that this use of common prose language is mixed with metrical beauty, the thirteenth stanza reads:

 “And then an open field they cross’d,

The marks were still the same;

They track’d them on, nor ever lost,

And to the Bridge they came.”

Many poems that Wordsworth criticizes were filled with unapproachable language and poetic language that disguises the feelings depicted instead of painting it as one would a picture. This poem is written in a way that the language is simple and approachable, however, Wordsworth follows a set meter and rhyme scheme, he states in lyrical ballads, “the subject of some importance, words metrically arranged will long continue to impart such a pleasure to mankind as he who proves the extent of that pleasure will be desirous to impart.” These lines follow meter to accomplish Wordsworth’s goal of poetry, to describe the feelings of man in the way they actually feel. 

Wordsworth makes a key argument for the use of the language of the common man for his words, “being less under the influence of social vanity, they convey their feelings and notions in simple and unelaborated expressions.” 

He also states, “The principal object, then, proposed in these Poems was to choose incidents and situations from common life, and to relate or describe them, throughout, as far as was possible in a selection of language really used by men, and, at the same time, to throw over them a certain colouring of imagination, whereby ordinary things should be presented to the mind in an unusual aspect; and, further, and above all, to make these incidents and situations interesting by tracing in them, truly though not ostentatiously, the primary laws of our nature: chiefly, as far as regards the manner in which we associate ideas in a state of excitement.”

“Lucy Gray” accomplishes this exactly! He is telling a story that, sadly, is very common. Children get lost or hurt and the use of over-complicated language would almost trivialize this occurrence. 

“Yet some maintain that to this day

She is a living Child,

That you may see sweet Lucy Gray

Upon the lonesome Wild.”

These lines in “Lucy Gray”  accomplish the “principal object” in Wordsworth’s preface. They are written in the common tongue, the meter is beautiful but uncontrived and they add “colouring of imagination” to this sad event. It is not just a story about a child being lost, it is also a sort of imaginative ghost story that plays with the mind and colors the life of this girl.

Wordsworth’s “Lucy Gray” is approachable, imaginative, and prose-like in nature, it exemplifies all the main goals Wordsworth lays out in his desires for what poetry should be. It is a ghost story in the art of a simple poem.