Wordsworth as a Critic Or Wordsworths literary Criticism Wordsworth and Coleridge were close friends.

They published the lyrical balleds in 1798, and two years later its second edition was published. But in these two years a kind of enmity developed between the two friends. In Biographia literary, Coleridge says that I do not agree with Wordsworth in most of his ideas. He gives us a criticism of Wordsworth as a poet and as a critic. Agreements with Wordswoth 1 . the first thing with which Coleride agrees is the philosophy on which Wordsworth had based his concept of poetry. Wordsworth was not a philosopher. He barrowed most of his philosophy from Coleridge. Wordsworths concept of poetry is discussed in the following points. 2. Passion and imagination: Coleridge agrees with Wordsworth that poetry is the feelings out of heart with passion and imagination. Imagination brings us closer to the reality, it does not take us away from reality as the neo-classical poets believed. 3. Poetry should be about significat actions and deeds: Wordsworth says that he will take the incidence from the life of villager and rustics, because they are governed by the law of nature. Therefore, these incidence taken form the villagers are not tivial but significant. Coleridege agrees that poetry should be about significant actions and deeds, but argures that human nature is same to him both in villages in cities. 4. There should be truth of genuine passion, based on real experience conveyed with sincerity and honesty:

-- genuine passion means that poetry should be about the fundamental passion and emotion which are experienced by the people who are closer to nature (the villagers). -- The real experience means the first experience which is experienced by the poet himself. To this Wordsworth gives the example of Daffodils and Solitary Reaper. --conveyed with sincerity means that thoughts of these experiences are expressed in a ppropraiate and suitable language. Coleridge agrees to this. 5. Poetic diction: Coleridge also agrees with Wordsworth on the account of the origin of poetic diction. Wordswoth says that poet of the first generation were imaginative and closer to nature. And in there poetry there was harmony and balance between the matter and manner. The poets of second generation were not imaginative like the poets of the first generation. They imitated them in manner not in matter. As a result the next generation establised an artifical diction for their expression and went further away from originality. Coleridge agree with wordsworh that in manner in matter there should be harmony and the language poetry should be refined. Disagreements with Wordsworth 1. Wordsworth says that the village life and the villigers are the best subjects for poetry because they are more close to nature: Coleridges does not agree and says that Words does not follow his own poetic theory. Wordsworths best poetry is not about the common folk of the village. when he deliberatly follows his theory, he becomes a minor poet. 2. All the people living in the village might not be noble and good: Wordsworth might be right in case of the lake district because there was peace and no landlords and dictators. But this might not be the case with the

other villagers, because in most of the villages there are landslords and exploiters. So Coleridge disagrees when Wordsworth talks about the generalization of the simple and peaceful life of the lake district to other villages. 3. Coleridge agrees with Wordsworth that people of the cities lack passion and emotion in comparision to the villagers. But Coleridge disagrees with Wordswoths that the villager can really communicate with nature. For association with nature intellectual education is necessary, while the villagers are backword, uneducated and rustic. The meet their needs by producing crops etc. 4. Wordsworth says that he will chose the language of the villagers, and he will remove the ungrammaticalities in order to refine it. Coleridge disagrees and says that the best part of language is the product of philosopher, not of clowns and shepreds. He further remarks that if the ungrammaticalites are removed, it does not remain the language of rustics.