| After published four versions of Lyrical Ballads, Wordsworth published Poems,in Two Volumes on May8,1807. It was his first anthology and the initial version ofhis later ones. However, it didn’t bring him as glory as Lyrical Ballads did. Instead, itwas an astonishing shock at that time for it was far ahead of its age and beyond theacceptance of most readers. The storm of criticism on him made his poetic reputationdegraded for over10years. It is in this anthology, however, Wordsworth carried outhis bold experiment on the tradition of English poetry, which advanced Englishpoetry to a new era. In this anthology, it contains many of Wordsworth’s mostoutstanding poems, which not only manifest his original poetic theory but also exhibithis outstanding poetic craftsmanship. Many of the poems have been translated intodifferent languages and chosen into varied collections, through which the readersthroughout the world know the poet of Wordsworth. Unfortunately, there is noresearch on this anthology in our country by far and the research on it abroad is notmuch, either. Furthermore, the research already achieved hasn’t given enoughimportance to the anthology that it should be observed. Without doubt, it is really aregret of the research on Wordsworth. Due to that reason, this dissertation is going toanatomize the anthology in order to resume its importance, including, the analysis ofits background, the demonstration of its poetic artistry, the account for its structure,the introduction of the criticism it aroused, and the presentation of its influences onthe world literature.When we study the background of this anthology, unexpectedly, we find it awork in the war-time. We can find in it both the romantic poet of Wordsworth and hisconcern to the politics and his eager for liberty. If we relate those social factors withhis poems, many neglected questions have been discovered and several suspicions inhis poems have been explained, such as the suspicion of Lucy and the suspicion of themighty confusion of Wordsworth’s emotion.Compared with Lyrical Ballads, there are many ways for Wordsworth to expresshis emotions in Poems, in Two Volumes and there is a change in his style. That is froma simple combination of rhyme and explicit images to a rustic development ofmetaphor and symbolism. Contrast with Lyrical Ballads, there are a lot of new styles,new forms and new themes in Poems, in Two Volumes. While there is no blank verse in Poems, in Two Volumes, there are traditional elegant odes and elegies appearing inthe anthology. Consequently, he returns Poetry from his experiment of lyrics to hisinheritance of the traditional literary poetic forms. Under the direction of his initiativepoetic theory, the poet carries forward those English poetic traditions adavancing theEnglish Poetry into a new development and the poet himself acquires his ownoutstanding poetic skills. If we say Lyrical Ballads is his experiment of balladicexpression of emotions, Poems, in Two Volumes is his bolder experimenting andinheriting of the tradition of English poetry. Such experiment and inheritance iscarried out not only on the above lyrics, odes and elegies, but also on the sonnets inPoems, in Two Volumes. This traditional poetic form goes beyond the restrictions ofthe traditional themes and forms throght Wordworth’s hands and is enhanced into anew level after John Milton.Although most readers are confused about the structure of the anthology, if theyare careful enough, they can discover that there is a relationship between differentparts of it and all the poems are set in one background. The two volumes of it are notactually separated but closely connected. The different parts in each volume are alsoassociated. Some lines in respective poems are even contacted with each other.Readers cannot know that without reading each poem elaborately and conjunct all thepoems together.However, because the anthology disobeys the established rules of composingpoems and goes beyond the acceptance of most readers at that time, it encounters along-time critics in which Francis Jeffrey was a leading voice. He had quite similarviewpoint with Wordsworth on nature, politics and literature, but rather diverseaesthetic standards. Due to his violent critic, Wordsworth’s fame as a poet that is notsteady yet has been degraded for over10years, which affects not only the poet’spersonal life but his later composition of poetry.But whatever it brings to the poet and the readers, it surely shows the scene ofEnglish society under war. As for the people involved in the war, it is a cardiacwithout fail. It is an excellent work to English literature. Considering the themes, theforms, the language and the rhythm of the poems, the anthology reveals itsenrichment and modernity. All these above elements make such a great powerfulwork and it gives great influences on the world literature. |
