Poetic Process Of William Words Worth

Assignment on;

"W i l l i a m W o r d s w o r t h ’ s P o e t i c Process""

Submitted to:

Prof. Asif Ali Suhag

Submitted by:

Al t a f A hme d She i kh M.A (Hons.) English Literature Roll No. ENG/2K6/10 Institute of English Language & Literature, University of Sindh, Jamshoro.

Dated;

November 2nd; 2009

Introduction William Wordsworth, pioneer of romanticism, was fundamentally a poet but laid his hands on criticism also. He was concerned not only about defining poetry and composing it, but he also peeped inside the other elements which are included in the genre of criticism as to know the nature and function of poetry. His thoughts constitute few theories which although controversial and least acceptable, still have got some significance when it comes discussing Wordsworth’s contribution as a critic. His important contribution was that of describing the process which leads a poet to the production of poetry.

Process of Production of Poetry as described by Wordsworth Wordsworth’s poetic process is based on his following statement; “Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings; it takes origin from emotion recollected in tranquility; the emotion is contemplated till, by a species of reactions, the tranquility disappears, and an emotion kindred to that which before the subject of contemplation is gradually produced, and does itself actually exist in the mind. In this mood successful composition begins and in a similar mood it is carried out.” When we analyze above statement by Wordsworth, it can easily be put into five stages which leads to the production of poetry, which is actually the poetic process in the eyes of Wordsworth. These five stages in order of process, are; Observation; Perception of the sense; Reflection; Imagination; Judgment. In simple terms, these stages are also named as; Sensation, Contemplation, Recollection, Recreation, & Composition. In the first stage, there is the emotion set up by an experience or by an object. Then there is an interval of time which the non-essential elements in the experience are unconsciously purged off. In the second stage, memory plays an important part. It throws off the dross of unmeaning fact, controls what is to be retained and shapes into beautiful forms what it retains. Wordsworth believed that if habitually consulted, memory will supply poet with his most valuable materials. This idea of an interval between experiences or observations and composition is an important part of Wordsworth’s theory of poetry. He believed that the method of composing poetry sometimes after the experience or incident reproduced with deeper truth the original impression. The third stage is recollection, when the experiences, thus purged, are recalled. At the fourth stage the emotion is gradually set up in the mind again. And then, composition is the last stage where the thought or emotion of the poet is before the world in a concrete form.

Wordsworth is often misconceived to have disregarded importance of thought and over valued emotion in poetic process. However, this charge is mislaid upon him. He himself stated; “Poems to which any value can be attached were never produced on any variety of subjects but by a man who, being possessed of more than usual organic sensibility, had also thought long and deeply. For our continued influxes of feeling are modified and directed by our thoughts.” It is worth mentioning here that the poetic process does not only rely on giving way to one’s emotion, rather it is built on a particular emotional and intellectual development. An experience triggers a transcendent moment, an instance of the sublime and the senses are overwhelmed by it. Then the spontaneous overflow leaves an individual incapable of articulating the true nature and beauty of that experience. Then, when the same experience is recollected, recreated, in tranquility, one finds a way out towards expressing it in words which is the final stage of poetic process i-e composition.

Conclusion Thus to sum up the poetic process as explained by Wordsworth, one need not open encyclopedia of poetry or criticism, but just bringing forth his parallel figure, a friend and a contemporary, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, would show both the shortcomings and the eccentricities in his poetic process. Coleridge had an edge over Wordsworth and very justly evaluated Wordsworth’s thoughts concerning poetry.