WORDSWORTH'S PREFACE TO LYRICAL BALLADS

When Wordsworth published his volume of poems called Lyrical Ballads, in 1798 he had written an Advertisement for it. He stated that his poems were of experimental nature and he was trying to find out whether themes taken from the life of ordinary people would suit poetry or not. He also wanted to find out whether the language they spoke could be made use of in poems. Wordsworth also noted that the poetry of the Augustans was artificial and unfeeling. For the second edition of book that appeared in 1800 he wrote a Preface.
In 1802 he rewrote the Preface elaborating his views. He dwelt on the nature and qualifications of a poet and the nature of poetic pleasure. He also said that the knowledge a poet could offer was greater than that of a scientist. He also added an Appendix on Poetic Diction to the book. Wordsworth kept revising his Preface for the subsequent editions of the Lyrical Ballads.
In the edition that appeared in 1815 the Preface appeared as an Appendix. And it had a new Preface. He also wrote An Essay Supplementary to the Preface. One has to read The Preface wrote in 1802, The Appendix written in1802 and the Essay Supplementary written in 1815 to understand Wordsworth’s views on poetry.
In the Preface to second edition of the Lyrical Ballads, Wordsworth writes that his aim in writing the preface was not to give a detailed account of his theory of poetry or a defence of his poems. Many of his friends urged Wordsworth to explain how his poems differed from the ones written by his predecessors and contemporaries. Wordsworth also stated that he wrote the Preface thinking that it would be appropriate on his part to present his views on poetry, the theme of poetry, language of poetry so on to help the readers to appreciate his poems.
He shows how his poems differed from the ones that were in vogue. He says that the readers accustomed to the ‘gaudiness’ and ‘inane phraseology’ of the contemporary writers may find his poems awkward. According to Wordsworth in the poetry of the Augustans diction was unnatural, and artificial and hence unfeeling. Wordsworth’s poems dealt with the life of common man in village. He wrote his poems in the language they spoke. It was simple, direct, and hence powerful