rationally

Wordsworth opens the Preface to Lyrical Ballads, 1802 by proclaiming his and Coleridge’s poetic project as one in which pleasures can be measured "rationally." He further insists that while “there would be found a difference, there would be found no discordance in the colours of our style; as our opinions on the subject of poetry do almost entirely coincide.” His use of the word “rationally” is an exceedingly odd term used to describe a sort of survey of audience responses to Coleridge poems. Similarly, the idea that pleasure can be measured rationally is downright silly.

Yet after having read a series of Wordsworth’s poems (or should I say stanzas of a lengthy poem) the calculated nature of his verse is very apparent. Compared to Coleridge’s nonsensical explorations of the supernatural Wordsworth’s poetry indeed reads as a deliberate and formulaic. For example, in The Idiot Boy, specifically on line 142 , Wordsworth describes Betty at Susan’s side: “But Betty, poor good woman!” This line basically encompasses Betty’s entire personality; she has no depth of character, no mysteriously contradictory actions (other than perhaps her stupidity). Thus it seems that Wordsworth’s Preface really only applies to himself, for he has indeed “rationally endeavored to impart” the messages of his poems.