William Wordsworth

He is a famous and important poet; famous because he wrote with Coleridge The Lyrical Ballads, the Manifesto of Romanticism and important because he introduced, in the second edition of The Lyrical Ballads, the idea of a new poetry that should deal with everyday situations and ordinary people, in particular humble and rural people. The poet is a man among men; writing about what mankind is interested in, but with a greater sensibility and the ability to penetrate the heart of things. The power of imagination lets him communicate his knowledge, so that he becomes a teacher showing men how to understand their feelings and improve their moral being. His task consists on drawing attention to the ordinary things of life, to the humblest people, where the deepest emotions and truths are to be found. Wordsworth gives the poet a new function; the poet becomes a prophet, a moral guide that spread the message of love and joy to the other men.

It is possible to read in A Certain Colouring Of Imagination that Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origins from emotion recollected in tranquility”. The authors message is not so simple but he keeps on explaining it us in several of his poems. While reading it is usual to find common outlines in several of his poems: a natural element is able to arouse feelings and emotions when seen by the poet; furthermore, in a moment of tranquility, he remembers what he has seen and recollects his sensations by writing them down. He could do this thanks to a gift, a special one, that only poets have: imagination; the great power to reproduce reality and to convey readers the same emotions felt by the poet, that could give a better perception of reality.

TEXT: Daffodils

  Rainbow

  Composed Upon Westminster Bridge

  A Certain Coluring Of Imagination