Preface to the Lyrical Ballads (1800 edition):

 Here is a clear, point-by-point summary of William Wordsworth’s famous Preface to the Lyrical Ballads (1800 edition):

Key Points of the Preface

• Definition of Poetry: Wordsworth famously defines poetry as "the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings," which takes its origin from "emotion recollected in tranquility."

• Subject Matter (Everyday Life): He argues that poetry should deal with situations from incidents and agents of common life, particularly humble and rustic life, because in that condition the essential passions of the heart find a better soil to mature.

• Language of Poetry (Ordinary Speech): Wordsworth rejects the artificial, elevated, and overly ornate "poetic diction" popular in the 18th century. Instead, he advocates using "a language really used by men," purified from vulgarity.

• The Role of the Poet: A poet is not a distant, superior figure, but "a man speaking to men"—someone endowed with more lively sensibility, greater enthusiasm, and a deeper knowledge of human nature.

• Purpose of Poetry: The primary object of poetry is to provide pleasure,but a moral and emotional pleasure that connects human beings to one another and to nature.