William Wordsworths Expostulation And Reply - 1615 Words

William Wordsworth’s â€Å"Expostulation and Reply† and its companion poem â€Å"The Tables Turned† use a revived form of poetry to encapsulate the main philosophies of the Romantic era. This poem was published in Lyrical Ballads, with a Few Other Poems in 1798, a publication considered by some to mark the beginning of the Romantic era in literature. These two poems bring back a poetic form that became a trademark for the British Romantic poets: the ballad. This form, often associated with simplicity, was useful in conveying the ideologies that were portrayed by the romantic poets. In reaction to the preceding Age of Enlightenment or Age of Reason, the new era focused on emotion over reason, a fact that Wordsworth emphasizes in these works.†¦show more content†¦This justifies Wordsworth’s need to be in nature because, as he states, it is natural to have these sensual experiences with nature. He expands upon his thoughts later in the poem: â€Å"N or less I deem†¦ That we can feed this mind of ours / In a wise passiveness† (â€Å"Expostulation and Reply† 21, 23-24). In Romantic idealism, one gains knowledge in a state of observation and passiveness, and, as Wordsworth points out in these lines, the wisdom gained by doing so is no less than the wisdom gleaned from books. In fact, with his earlier lines about the natural tendency to observe, he suggests that this type of learning is superior to learning strictly from books. This is Wordsworth’s way of addressing the common attitude among his readers, which was a product of the Enlightenment era, and to compare it to the emerging Romanticism in order to show the benefits of evolving into the Romantic mindset. The companion poem to â€Å"Expostulation and Reply,† â€Å"The Tables Turned,† exhibits Wordsworth’s active attempt to change the mindset of his audience. He calls his audience to change from a reason-based mindset to a Romanti c mindset: â€Å"Enough of Science and of Art†¦ Come forth, and bring with you a heart / That watches and receives† (â€Å"The Tables Turned† 29, 31-32). This is a direct reference to the Age of Enlightenment, a time when science reigned. These lines voice Wordsworth’s call to abandon a philosophy based on science and reason alone: â€Å"William Wordsworth, and Samuel Taylor ColeridgeShow MoreRelatedThe French Revolution Of The 18th Century907 Words   |  4 PagesRevolution marked the beginning of the Romantic Period, effectively inspiring poets to pursue raw emotion rather than logic or reason as in the previous age. In turn, the revolution gave great influence to several key social poets of the time such as William Wordsworth and Samuel Coleridge. Accordingly, these poets illustrated the ideals of these revolutionary beliefs to reach the public consciousness of their society through poetic portrayals of the individual achieving greatness or personal un derstandingRead MoreSummary of She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways11655 Words   |  47 PagesThe Lucy poems William Shuter, Portrait of William Wordsworth, 1798. Earliest known portrait of Wordsworth, painted in the year he wrote the first drafts of The Lucy poems[1] The Lucy poems are a series of five poems composed by the English Romantic poet William Wordsworth (1770–1850) between 1798 and 1801. All but one were first published during 1800 in the second edition of Lyrical Ballads, a collaboration between Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge that was both Wordsworths first major publication