Wordsworth admired nature/countryside not only because it looked beautiful, but because of the simplicity and beauty that nature/countryside provided allowed people to be in touch with their soul and experience true beauty in life. However, to reduce his work to just an imitation of trees and flowers would be immature. Wordsworth’s relation to Nature/Countryside Wordsworth is celebrated as the nature poet because of his beautiful descriptions of nature and rural/countryside areas. Inspired by the ideals of the French Revolution – to shake up the foundations of old hierarchical structures – and distressed by the rise of the choking city life, the Romantic Wordsworth set out to challenge old notions regarding poetry.

the lower-case ‘r’) Romanticism was a movement which sought to break away from old norms and beliefs by revolutionizing the way people thought about society in 18th century Europe. Iii.) Rise of Romanticism – Romanticism is different from romanticism (notice the capital ‘R’ vs. Neoclassicism was followed by Romanticism. Their language was far from what people used in daily conversations and they spoke of extraordinary subjects.

Ii.) The Backdrop of the Neoclassicals – Neoclassical works were known for their adherence to rules and regulations of satire and their strict definitions of what is poetry. I.) Massive industrialization and urbanization – During this period, London became the urban centre of industrial development and huge masses of people migrated to the cities in search of jobs. It would be helpful for us to first familiarize ourselves with this historical context of 18th century Europe The Preface to the Lyrical Ballads first appeared in the 2nd edition of the poetry collection Lyrical Ballads (1801) and later expanded in the 3rd edition (1802).

Preface of the lyrical ballads