Borrowing And Innovations

Based on Wordsworth’s life experience and his works,this thesis contends that while his early poems are deeply influenced by the picturesque school,he has improved picturesque theoretical framework at the same time.Behind the picturesque description of Wordsworth,there exists the depth of his sensibility and his concern for people in disadvantaged position,which has much to do with the historical and political reality of his time in the 18th century.Sympathy towards the suffering poor does not appear in the traditional framework of the picturesque very often.Wordsworth,unlike other picturesque artists who purposely neglect human pain to purge the art,has made improvements by highlighting the human suffering.Some early works of Wordsworth such as "An Evening Walk","Incidents upon Salisbury Plain" and those included in the poetry anthology Lyrical Ballads are selected as the research target,for they mark Wordsworth’s remarkable achievements in the combination of picturesque elements and emotions.The first chapter of the thesis begins with the analysis of the origin and major theory of the picturesque school and how has it influenced Wordsworth aesthetically Chapter Two points out that while influenced by picturesque school,Wordsworth’s poems reflect his improvement over the picturesque:adding voice description,combining historical relics with his own experience,and expressing his feelings through the picturesque description.However,due to class limitations,his sympathy only goes to the people who inhabit in his ideal world of nature and serene countryside where he can nourish his mind.In this chapter,the thesis puts weight on the detailed exploration of how Wordsworth has adopted picturesque skills such as the depth of field,breaking of the colors and the combination of smoothness and roughness.Then the thesis progresses into analyzing what feelings are elicited in different situations described in his poemsIn the third chapter,how Wordsworth presents the "eyesores" in his poems with picturesque elements is discussed together with what Wordsworth feels towards the disadvantaged people.The historical events that the poems revealed are analyzed.The ugliness and human sufferings that picturesque artists eschew is exactly what human society needs to pay attention to.Wordsworth’s poems express his detestation of the cruel war,his dissatisfaction with the uncontrolled development of industrialization,and his condemnation of landlords’ occupation of land.