William Wordsworth was one of the first poets to dabble in American Free Verse. He was extremely prolific, leaving us an incredibly large library of excellent verse.
Romantic and emotional: Wordsworth sought to express emotions and sentiments, not just describe external nature. His poetry evokes feelings of joy, wonder, sadness and other human passions.
Characterized by simplicity and clarity: Wordsworth strove for simple, straightforward language that would connect directly with readers' feelings. He emphasized "a return to simplicity" in poetry.
Inspired by nature: Nature and the natural world serve as a source of joy, imagination and spiritual insight in Wordsworth's poetry. He finds poetry in the humblest things in nature.
Expressing transcendent themes: Wordsworth frequently explored themes of nature's ability to evoke transcendent feelings and spiritual revelations in human beings. He saw nature as a way to access higher truths.
Use of colloquial language: Wordsworth often employed the ordinary language of common speech in his poetry, rather than ornate literary language. He wanted poetry to be accessible to all readers.
Focus on childhood: Many of Wordsworth's poems explored childhood as a time of purity, joy and connection to nature. He saw childhood as a source of poetic creativity.
Reliance on imagery and metaphor: Wordsworth made heavy use of imagery, metaphor and simile drawn from nature to evoke emotions and express profound insights simply.
Presence of meter and rhyme: Though Wordsworth pioneered some free verse, much of his poetry relies on traditional poetic forms like sonnets and blank verse with established meter and rhyme schemes.
In summary, Wordsworth's poetic style is characterized by simplicity, clarity and emotion; the use of nature as a spiritual guide and source of joy; the exploration of transcendent themes; and the evocation of feelings through metaphor, imagery and the language of ordinary speech. It combines Romantic sensibilities with classical poetic forms and organization.
As with many of the most influential poets, Wordsworth’s work deals mainly with a tradition of transcendence.
Jack Lhasa
Joshua Owens