Table of Contents
What does Wordsworth mean by poetic diction?
He defines poetic diction as a language of common men. It is not the language of the poet as a class but the language of mankind. It is the simple expression of pure passions by men living close to nature. The poetic language is the natural language; therefore, it must be spontaneous and instinctive.
WHO discussed the idea of poetic diction?
The first writer to discuss poetic diction in the Western tradition was Aristotle (384 BC—322 BC). In his Poetics, he stated that the perfect style for writing poetry was one that was clear without meanness. He went on to define meanness of style as the deliberate avoidance of unusual words.
What are the characteristics of Wordsworth poetry?
Some of the main features of Wordsworth’s poetry are a spiritual veneration for nature, a dislike for modernity, an interest in the individual and the imagination, a fascination with childhood, and the employment of common language.
What literary style did Wordsworth?
William Wordsworth. In 1797, the Romantic Movement in English literature assumed its definite shape. William Wordsworth was among the founding members and the most significant figure of Romanticism in English Literature. He is recognized as a spiritual poet who has epistemological thought.
How does diction affect the tone of a poem?
Connotative diction can be used by an author to evoke specific emotions in his/her audience. Those emotions lead the reader to understand the tone or the attitude the author has toward his/her subject. Diction is one of the strongest indicators of tone and therefore, very useful in style analysis.
What is an example of poetic diction?
Interestingly, what Wordsworth considered the “language of men” is today seen as an example of poetic diction. This is due to the transformation of language and what is considered “common” as the decades have passed. (Explore an example of William Wordsworth’s verse below.)
What are Wordsworth’s views on meter and poetic diction?
Wordsworth’s defense of metre comes as a surprise among all the revolutionary talk of discarding artificial devices of the 18th-century poetic practice. Poetic diction is rejected on the score that it is artificial capricious and arbitrary. He advocates the return to the ordinary language of a humble man.
How does Coleridge Criticise Wordsworth theory of poetic diction?
Coleridge also disagrees with Wordsworth regarding the statement that there neither is nor can be any essential difference between the language of prose and metrical composition”. Coleridge asserts that there is and there ought to be an essential difference between the languages of prose argues that of poetry.
How did it influence Wordsworth’s poetic style?
Wordsworth had a belief that poetic style should be as simple and sincere as the language of everyday life, and that the more the poet draws on elemental feelings and primal simplicities the better for his art. He advocated the use of simple language in poetry.
What is the important of diction in a poem?
The selection of words in a literary work. A work’s diction forms one of its centrally important literary elements, as writers use words to convey action, reveal character, imply attitudes, identify themes, and suggest values.
How many types of poetic diction are there?
There are a few types of diction. They include formal, informal, poetic, and neutral. Sometimes, abstract diction and elevated diction are also analyzed.
What meter did Wordsworth use?
iambic pentameter
For the most part, Wordsworth’s poem is in iambic pentameter, which means that each line contains five (pent) feet or groups that contain an unstressed syllable and a stressed syllable (in that order).
How is Coleridge’s idea of poet different from that of Wordsworth?
According to Coleridge, a poet is a great philosopher. No man can be a poet without philosophic knowledge. But Wordsworth thinks that a poet is affected more than other men by absent things as if they were present. He can share the emotional experiences of others.
What should be the language of poetry according to Wordsworth?
Wordsworth says that the language of prose can be used in poetry. There is no essential difference between the language of prose and that of metrical composition.