Introduction:
Arnold is one of the most important critics of Wordsworth. When his essay on Wordsworth was published, it inaugurated a new phase of Wordsworth's criticism. Arnold justly praised Wordsworth for his virtues. But he also criticised him at points. In this respect his essay on Wordsworth can very well be compared with Sir Herbert Read's book on Wordsworth. Arnold was a man of strong tastes and he had a somewhat stiff coloured attitude towards the contemporary romantic poets of England. But by nature and temperament he appreciated Wordsworth because in him he could find no signs of decadence when Wordsworth died he wrote in one of his most memorable poems:
“But where will Europe's later hour
Again find Wordsworth's healing power?” (From Memorial Verses)
Arnold's essay on Wordsworth was written in 1879 as a Preface to The Poems of Wordsworth chosen and edited by Arnold himself. Later on in 1888, it was published in the Essays in Criticism, Second Series. According to Herbert Read, it is a document of great historical and critical significance for it marks the beginning of a settled level of appreciation of Wordsworth's poetry.
The Rise and Fall in Wordsworth's Popularity:
Wordsworth's was at its height between 1830 and 1840 and particularly at Cambridge. His recognition was rather slow, and Scott finally replaced him in public fame, as Byron replaced Scott. Coleridge had much to do with the growing popularity of Wordsworth, and Coleridge's influence was strong at Cambridge. A time came when Rydal Mount, Wordsworth's residence, became an object of pilgrimage. His popularity began to wane before the rising fame of Tennyson.
The Obstacles in the Way of Wordsworth's Recognition:
(a) Mingling of the Pieces of High Merit with those of Inferior:
In the seven volumes of Wordsworth's collected poems, pieces of high merit are mingled with numerous pieces very inferior in quality. The fact is that Wordsworth continued to write even when inspiration flagged with the result that he produced much that is inferior, flat and dull with the evident unconsciousness of these defects, and such inferior work is presented with the same faith and seriousness as his best work. In reading Wordsworth the impression made by one of his fine pieces is too often dulled and spoiled by a very inferior piece coming after it. His best work lies in his shorter pieces which must be separated from a great mass of inferior work.
(b) Artificial and Unsatisfactory Classification of His Poems:
The poet classifies his poems as poems of fancy, poems of imagination, poems of sentiment and reflection, and so on. This classification on the basis of the mental origin of a poem is unsatisfactory for it separates poems, one from another, poems which possess a vital and deep kinship of subject or treatment. Arnold recommends that instead of this artificial classification the poems must be classified according to the wise scheme of the Greeks. Wordsworth's poems will never produce their due effect until they are freed from their present artificial arrangement, and grouped naturally.
(c) His Formal Philosophy:
Arnold rightly points out that Wordsworth's poetry is the reality; his philosophy is merely an illusion. We cannot do justice to his poetry, until we dismiss his formal philosophy. Philosophical passages in The Excursion, and there are too many of them, are mere, tissues of elevated but abstract verbiage, alien to the very nature, of poetry. Even the philosophy of the famous Immortality Ode, beautiful as it is as a play of fancy, lacks real solidity. Wordsworth's philosophy has neither any depth nor any originality, and it makes him hopelessly dull and prosaic.
(d) Having no Assured Style:
For all poets inspiration is of the utmost importance, and it was more so in the case of Wordsworth. He could write powerfully and effectively only when the inspiration was upon. When the inspiration failed him, he was weak as is a breaking wave, and produced poetry which is worthless and flat. He is great only in moments of inspiration, then nature herself seems to write for him. Wordsworth had no assured style of his own. He has many fine Miltonic echoes, and sometimes we do find in him the subtle turn, the heightening, which is given to a poet's verse by his genius for style. But he has no assured and constant possession of such a heightened and elevated style. His characteristic style, the style which may truly be called Wordsworthian, is a style of perfect plainness, relying for its effect entirely on the weight and force of its subject matter.
Wordsworth's Greatness due to His Best Poetry:
Wordsworth is great because of the goodness of his best poetry, and also because of the large bulk of the good work that he has left behind him. But his real greatness can be appreciated only when his friends and admirers direct attention to the right things, and recommend him to the reading public not in the spirit of a clique but in the spirit of disinterested lovers of poetry. Wordsworth is one of the chief glories of English poetry, and he can be recognised as such only when the Wordsworthians approach him in the right spirit, recognize the secret of his true greatness, and admire and praise him for the right reasons. Wordsworth ranks next only to Shakespeare and Milton among English poets and next only to Goethe and Moliere among the Europeans. There are three reasons of his greatness, First, his poetry provides a profound and noble criticism of life, Second, he is a poet of a joy and Third, he has verbal magic.
Extraordinary Power of His Poetry:
Wordsworth's poetry is great because of the extraordinary power with which Wordsworth feels the joy offered to us in nature, the joy offered to us in the simple, primary affectations and duties; and because of the extra ordinary with which, in case after case, he shows us this joy, and renders it so as to make us share it. For Wordsworth nature is a source of joy, and it is a source which is unfailing and universal. Wordsworth offers in his poetry this joy, a joy which is in widest commonalty spread.
This Essay, an Important Landmark:
Arnold's essay on Wordsworth is a document of a abiding significance. It is an important landmark in the history of literary criticism in England. When Arnold wrote the essay in 1879, Wordsworth's popularity was at a low ebb. Great importance was attached to his philosophy, and it was forgotten that he was a poet, and must be judged as such. The essay is Arnold's attempt at saving the poetry by throwing overboard his philosophy, and he has eminently succeeded in his purpose.
Throwing a Light on Arnold's Critical Theory and Attitude to Poetry:
This essay brings out Arnold's admiration for Greek classification of poetry into lyric, narrative, dramatic, etc. It also brings out, Arnold's stress on high standards for literary judgement. In Arnold's opinion, poetry is a criticism of life, the application of moral ideas to life. For him the question, ‘How to live?’ is essentially a moral question. He does not believe in the current theory of art for art's sake, and goes to the extent of saying that a poetry of indifference to moral ideas is a poetry of revolt against life. Arnold is a classicist; still he has faith in inspiration and natural magic. Arnold's Soundness of Mind: Arnold was a devoted Wordsworthian, one who respected Wordsworth as a sage and master, but all the same he was not blind to his faults. He was quite aware of his faults, knew that he was often hopelessly flat, dull and prosaic, and, therefore, makes a forceful plea that a judicious selection must be made from his verse. In this way, the essay brings out Arnold's sagacity, discrimination, and balance as a literary critic. Nature herself seems often to write for him with her bare, sheer, penetrating power.
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