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In the preface to the Lyrical Ballads, Wordsworth defines poetry thus: "Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings; it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility." In this definition of poetry there are two apparent contradictions. The "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" on one side and "emotion recollected in tranquility" on the other side are apparently two contradictory statements. "Spontaneous overflow" must be immediate and unrestricted without any interval of time between feeling and its expression.
The expression "recollected in tranquility" would suggest intervention of time between feeling and its expression. "Recollection" means remembering some impression after some lapse of time. Wordsworth himself has tried to reconcile this apparent contradiction in his further elucidation of his definition. Immediate impression has a blending of both important and unimportant impressions. When they are allowed to rest for sometime, only the important impressions remain in the memory, and the unimportant ones wash away. The poet would then express those powerful impressions spontaneously with ease and felicity without any imposition of restriction in point of language or poetic diction. The poet's expression of those powerful feelings must be easy, smooth and natural.