Avoiding Arrogance

February 8, 2010 at 8:19 pm (Literature)

In 1802, William Wordsworth wrote a Preface to his second edition of his Lyrical Ballads.

In this Preface, he explained the purpose and focus of his work – to use simple language and simple subjects in poetry rather than the eloquent language and heroic subjects that had always been used. Francis Jeffrey, the editor and chief literary critic of the Edinburgh review, had a different opinion. He composed a response to Wordsworth’s Preface, in which he makes a strong argument against deviating from the established art of poetry. In his response, his argument is reasoned well and presented well…that is, until he explains why he believes the lower classes are not fit subjects for poetry. He says that “…[t]he love, or grief, or indignation of an enlightened and refined character, is not only expressed in a different language, but is in itself a different emotion from the love, or grief, or anger, of a closn, a tradesman, or a market-wench.” He continues in similarly distatseful statements for quite a while.

I’m sure that none of us would dare say such a thing now, but that doesn’t mean that similar thoughts don’t creep in the back of our subconscious. Oftentimes, we realize that we are more educated that someone else around us, and therefore deem what we have to say as more important than whatever it is they have to say. While our thoughts may be  more informed because of our education, we have to consciously and actively make ourselves listen to and evaluate every thought we come across. I believe our society has come far enough along to not to dehumanize others as Jeffery did, but we have to really try and make ourselves value everyone’s thoughts as much as we value our own. That is the only way to really and truly make progress.