The Reading of Wordsworth in the Twentieth Century by Jeffrey Side

The Reading of Wordsworth in the Twentieth Century by Jeffrey Side

It is becoming increasingly recognised that one of the most dominant aspects of Wordsworth’s influence is that which derives from the philosophical empiricism upon which part of his poetic aesthetic was based. Wordsworth used this empiricism mainly as a rationale to champion a more descriptive and discursive poetry than arguably had been formerly the case. It can be demonstrated that Wordsworth’s poetry relies too consistently upon a descriptive realist aesthetic derived from empiricist beliefs about subject/object relationships. As a result of this, it can be observed that Wordsworth’s poetic theory and practice are limiting both as a rationale for the creative impulse and as a critical methodology. This book traces the development of a “Wordsworthian empiricism” that had become dominant by the end of the twentieth century. It will illustrate how the reading and criticism of Wordsworth in the twentieth century (even that which viewed him principally in transcendentalist terms) tended to foreground his empiricism resulting in its wide acceptance by many influential critics as being of value to poetic composition.

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