Dave, last of my opinion that Wordsworth was where English Poetry took
an Important turn: I don't think of him as epigrammatic or polished the
way Pope was. And Rochester. Don't know Dryden well enough to say, but
my impression of him is that he, too, seems to use poetic artifice more
than Wordsworth. Also, Wordsworth didn't do satire, which I consider
more artificial than lyric poetry. He certainly went for grandeur of
diction at times, though. (Thank goodness.) Still, he seems to me the
first one in the poetry rainbow at the locus where we have to say green
instead of blue. As I think I've said before, I wish I were back in my
twenties with some kind of grant that would allow me to do a serious
study of all this (not that it has not been done already, sometimes
effectively) and write it up. I think I could find a find a few
worthwhile new things to say about it.
all best, Bob
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