Wordsworth’s Poetic Creed: An Exploration of His Philosophy of Poetry

William Wordsworth (An English Poet)

Few figures in English literature have redefined poetry as radically as William Wordsworth. In the late eighteenth century, when poetry was dominated by neoclassical ideals of wit, order, and artificial diction, Wordsworth and his friend Samuel Taylor Coleridge launched a revolution with the publication of Lyrical Ballads (1798, expanded in 1800 and 1802). Wordsworth’s “Preface to Lyrical Ballads,” often regarded as the manifesto of English Romanticism, lays out his views on what poetry should be, how it should be written, and who the poet is. This blog will examine Wordsworth’s poetic creed by addressing key questions drawn from the Preface and from his verse, analyzing how he redefined poetry for the modern age.

An introductory video:

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Why Does Wordsworth Ask “What is a Poet?” Rather than “Who is a Poet?”

At first glance, one might expect Wordsworth to ask who is a poet, seeking to identify the individual characteristics of the poet. Instead, he asks what is a poet, a question that moves beyond biography or personality to essence and function. By shifting from “who” to “what,” Wordsworth situates the poet not as an isolated individual but as a representative figure, a vessel of heightened sensibility and imagination whose role is to mediate between the world of ordinary experience and the world of feeling and expression.

This distinction is crucial to Wordsworth’s poetic theory. In the neoclassical tradition, poets were often defined by their mastery of classical forms, their education, and their adherence to established conventions. Wordsworth rejects this external definition. Instead, he describes the poet in terms of qualities of mind and heart: sensitivity, imagination, tenderness, enthusiasm, and a deep sympathy with humanity. Thus, the question “what is a poet?” leads to a philosophy of poetry grounded not in tradition or status but in human experience and emotional truth.

For the better understanding you can go through this video:

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Poetic Diction: Wordsworth’s Revolutionary Rejection of Convention

In eighteenth-century poetry, “poetic diction” referred to an elevated style of writing distinct from ordinary language. Poets employed archaic words, circumlocutions, and elaborate metaphors, often making poetry inaccessible and artificial. For example, a poet might write of “the finny tribe” instead of simply saying “fish.”

Wordsworth vehemently opposed this separation between poetic and ordinary language. In the Preface, he argues that poetry should be composed in the “language really used by men.” For Wordsworth, the true subjects of poetry are not gods or kings but “incidents and situations from common life.” Since these subjects belong to ordinary people, the language must also be plain, sincere, and natural.

Thus, Wordsworth proposes a radical simplification of poetic diction. He suggests that the poet should use the everyday speech of rural life, which he believed to be less affected by social vanity and closer to the essential passions of humanity. In doing so, he sought to democratize poetry, making it accessible and emotionally authentic rather than an elite art form bound by convention.

This will help you too:

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Wordsworth’s Definition of Poetry and His Poetic Philosophy

Perhaps the most quoted line from Wordsworth’s Preface is his definition:

> “Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings; it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquillity.”

This definition has two parts. First, poetry arises from deep emotion—intense, authentic feelings that flow naturally. Second, poetry requires reflection: emotion “recollected in tranquillity.” The poet does not merely record passion in the heat of the moment but reflects upon it, shaping raw emotion into art.

This balance between spontaneity and reflection is central to Wordsworth’s philosophy. It distinguishes genuine poetry from mere emotional outbursts. The poet must feel deeply but also possess the imaginative power to recall and recreate those feelings for the reader. This philosophy underlies Wordsworth’s belief that poetry should reveal universal truths about human nature by connecting personal emotion with shared experience.

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Analyzing a Poem in the Context of Wordsworth’s Poetic Creed

A prime example of Wordsworth’s creed is found in his poem “We Are Seven.” The poem tells of a simple conversation between the speaker and a rustic child about her siblings, some of whom are dead. The child insists that she has seven siblings, refusing to exclude the deceased ones.

On the surface, the poem is childlike in diction and subject matter. Yet its simplicity carries profound emotional depth. Here, Wordsworth exemplifies his doctrine: he takes a situation from “common life” and portrays it in plain language, but beneath the simplicity lies a profound meditation on innocence, grief, and the human refusal to sever ties with the dead.

This illustrates how Wordsworth’s theory worked in practice: poetry rooted in everyday life, expressed in natural speech, yet charged with universal feeling and significance.

Here is the reference video:

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“A Language Differing Materially from the Real Language of Men”

Despite his insistence on natural diction, Wordsworth acknowledges a paradox. He admits that even when writing in the language of common life, poetry inevitably produces a style that differs “materially from the real language of men in any situation.” Why? Because the process of selection, reflection, and imagination transforms ordinary language into poetic language.

The poet chooses words with care, arranges them rhythmically, and invests them with emotional resonance. Thus, while rejecting artificial poetic diction, Wordsworth recognizes that poetry is not identical to everyday speech—it is a refined, heightened version of it. In this sense, his revolution was not to erase artistry but to ground it in authenticity.

For example, in “Michael” (1800), Wordsworth narrates the tragic story of an old shepherd and his family in plain language. Yet through rhythm, imagery, and emotional depth, the poem transcends mere storytelling to become an elegy for rural life and familial bonds. This illustrates the subtle difference between ordinary speech and poetic expression as Wordsworth conceived it.

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“A Man Speaking to Men” – Wordsworth’s View of the Poet"

Wordsworth famously describes the poet as:

> “a man speaking to men: a man, it is true, endowed with more lively sensibility, more enthusiasm and tenderness.”

Here, the emphasis is on humanity. The poet is not a distant bard or oracle but a human being addressing fellow humans. What distinguishes the poet is not separation from society but heightened sensitivity and imaginative power.

The poet feels more deeply than ordinary people, perceives connections that others overlook, and expresses emotions with greater clarity. Yet his purpose is not self-indulgence but communication: he gives voice to shared experiences, enabling readers to recognize their own emotions in his verse.

This view reflects Wordsworth’s democratic impulse. Poetry is not the domain of an elite but an essential form of human communication, available to all who feel and reflect.

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The Poet’s Comprehensive Soul and Knowledge of Human Nature

Wordsworth further claims:

> “A poet has a greater knowledge of human nature, and a more comprehensive soul, than one supposed to be common among mankind.”

This statement does not mean that poets are superhuman geniuses. Rather, it reflects Wordsworth’s belief that the poet’s heightened sensibility allows him to grasp universal truths of human nature. By reflecting deeply on his own emotions, the poet accesses the emotions of others.

This view aligns with Romanticism’s broader philosophy: the poet is not merely an observer of life but an interpreter of human experience. Through imagination, the poet reveals connections between the individual and the universal, the personal and the collective.

For example, in “Tintern Abbey” (1798), Wordsworth reflects on his own changing relationship to nature. Yet the poem resonates universally because it articulates experiences of memory, growth, and consolation that all readers can recognize. The poet’s personal meditation becomes a mirror of human life.

“The Spontaneous Overflow of Powerful Feelings”

Finally, Wordsworth’s most famous dictum:

> “For all good poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings.”

This line captures the essence of his poetic revolution. Against neoclassical restraint, Wordsworth insists that authentic emotion is the source of poetry. Poetry must arise from genuine passion, not from rules of decorum or artificial ornament.

Yet Wordsworth carefully balances this spontaneity with discipline. The overflow of feeling must be recollected, shaped, and expressed through imagination. The poet’s task is not to suppress passion but to transform it into art that communicates with others.

In this sense, Wordsworth redefined poetry as both personal and universal: personal because it arises from the poet’s authentic feelings, universal because it speaks to shared human experience.

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Conclusion: Wordsworth’s Enduring Legacy

Wordsworth’s redefinition of poetry in the Preface to Lyrical Ballads remains one of the most influential manifestos in literary history. By asking “what is a poet?” he identified the poet’s essential function as a mediator of human feeling. By rejecting artificial poetic diction, he returned poetry to the language of common life. By defining poetry as “emotion recollected in tranquillity,” he established a philosophy that balanced spontaneity with reflection.

His poems, from “We Are Seven” to “Tintern Abbey,” embody these principles, demonstrating how simple subjects and plain language can yield profound insights into human nature. Wordsworth democratized poetry, grounding it in ordinary experience while elevating it through imagination.

For Romanticism and for all subsequent literature, Wordsworth’s creed was revolutionary. Poetry, he showed, is not an ornament of culture but a fundamental expression of what it means to be human.

References

Wordsworth, William. Preface to Lyrical Ballads (1800, 1802 editions).