Question

Can Wordsworth's Preface to the Lyrical Ballads be considered to be the pronouncement on Romantic Literature?Comment

Answer 1

Yes, the Preface to Lyrical Ballads can be understood as a manifesto of Romantic criticism. In it, Wordsworth lays out his vision for a new kind of poetry, a poetry that sets itself in opposition to the Neo-Classical verse of writers, such as John Dryden and Alexander Pope. Neo-Classic poetry relied on models provided by the writers of Ancient Greece and Rome. It also used very regular, measured rhyme schemes, often employing heroic couplets, and showed emotional restraint and rationalism. It often focused on heroic, aristocratic individuals: the great men of