An Argument with Wordsworth

*Poetry ... takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquillity*

(Preface to the *Lyrical Ballads* )



People are always quoting that and all of them seem to agree

And it's probably most unwise to admit that it's different for me.

I have emotion - no one who knows me could fail to detect it -

But there's a serious shortage of tranquillity in which to recollect it.

So this is my contribution to the theoretical debate:

Sometimes poetry is emotion recollected in a highly emotional state.