The Break with the Augustan Past Common and Uncommon in the Wordsworthian Poetics

Abstract

The present study aims at investigating, in the larger context of the Romantic break with the Augustan past, Wordsworth’s completely new approach to the writing of English poetry, focusing on issues related to the common and the uncommon aspects of his different and original kind of poetry which was innovative not only in subject matter, but also in form and language. Through simple, meticulous poetic description of common day life activities, human figures and situations, Wordsworth managed to give uncommon aesthetic significance to, as he puts it, simple and unelaborated expressions. By means of poetry, Wordsworth succeeded to inspire transcendental consciousness through the poetic examination of immediate life. Therefore, the issue of common and uncommon becomes a central leitmotiv when it comes to analyzing the whole range of meanings within wordsworthian poetry.

Keywords

• Romanticism
• poetry
• common
• uncommon
• Wordsworth
• novelty