1) Poetry is the "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings; it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquillity."

2) "The most valuable object of all writing [is] . . . the great and universal passions of men, the most general and interesting of their occupations, and the entire world of nature before me."

3) Wordsworth writes a new and "experimental" poetry, one whose language is a "fitting to metrical arrangement a selection of the real language of men in a state of vivid sensation."

4) Wordsworth writes about "incidents and situations from common life . . . in a selection of language really used by men."

5) He chooses "humble and rustic life," in which "the essential passions of the heart find a better soil . . are under less restraint, and speak a plainer and more emphatic language." This plain language is, for Wordsworth, "a more permanent, and a far more philosophical language than that which is frequently substituted for it by poets."

6) Wordsworth's poetry "has a worthy purpose": achieving such an effect "that the understanding of the reader . . . be in some degree enlightened, and his affections strengthened and purified."

7) The poet "describes for a particular purpose, that of giving pleasure." Poetry's object is "not individual and local, but general." He collapses the ancient dualism of teach/delight by saying that delighting is teaching--pleasure (or pain) is learning:
"We have no sympathy but what is propagated by pleasure . . . .

8) The poet is not set apart from other persons by genius or any qualitative difference. The difference between the poet and the non-poet is one of quantity: "the poet is chiefly distinguished from other men by a greater promptness to think and feel without immediate external excitement, and a greater power in expressing such thoughts and feelings as are produced in him in that manner."

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        Wordsworth writes to justify--in theoretical terms--his practice of writing a new and "experimental" poetry, one whose language is a "fitting to metrical arrangement a selection of the real language of men in a state of vivid sensation." He is attempting to write a more "natural" poetry than was produced in the 18th century. His emphasis is on experience--the simple experience of everyday life is privileged in Wordworth's poetry over the tradition and knowledge to be gleaned from books and formal education. Emotion is more important, closer to the real essence of life, than is intellect. Wordsworth also prefers rural settings--both as settings and inspirations for poetry--to urban settings: one of the causes of the blunting of the "discriminating powers of the mind," is the "increasing accumulation of men in cities."
        He acknowledges that his poetry may not be well received by "they who have been accustomed to the gaudiness and inane phraseology of many modern writers," and that those readers/critics may 'look round for poetry, and . . . inquire by what species of courtesy these attempts can be permitted to assume that title." However, Wordsworth is not writing for those people. He is writing for an audience sympathetic to his preferences: experience over tradition; emotion over intellect; everyday language over ornate and artificial turns of phrase:

"Poets do not write for poets alone, but for men [I come not to minister to the healthy, but to the sick . . . Man does not live by bread alone . . . Unless you become as little children . . . for to suchlike ones belongs the kingdom of . . . Poetry]. Unless therefore, we are advocates for that admiration which subsists upon ignorance [I must admit, I agree with him wholeheartedly here.], and that pleasure which arises from hearing what we do not understand, the poet must descend from this supposed height; and, in order to excite rational sympathy, he must express himself as other men express themselves."

Take that, Ezra Pound.

        Wordsworth writes--or claims to write--about "incidents and situations from common life . . . in a selection of language really used by men." He chooses "humble and rustic life," in which "the essential passions of the heart find a better soil . . are under less restraint, and speak a plainer and more emphatic language." This plain language is, for Wordsworth, "a more permanent, and a far more philosophical language than that which is frequently substituted for it by poets."
        Wordsworth's poetry "has a worthy purpose": achieving such an effect "that the understanding of the reader . . . be in some degree enlightened, and his affections strengthened and purified." He seeks to elevate his readers above the "craving for extraordinary incident" which results, in part, from the "increasing accumulation of men in cities." He eschews the "personifications of abstract ideas" and "poetic diction" for the purpose of bringing his poetic language closer to that of his subjects and readers. For Wordsworth, language does not belong--Academe Francais style--to the intellectuals, the scholars, philosophers, and readers of many books, but to the common people.
        Wordsworth says that the poet "describes for a particular purpose, that of giving pleasure." He echoes Samuel Johnson in declaring poetry's object "not individual and local, but general." He collapses the ancient dualism of teach/delight by saying that delighting is teaching--pleasure (or pain) is learning:

"We have no sympathy but what is propagated by pleasure . . . . We have no knowledge, that is, no general principles drawn from particular facts, but what has been built up by pleasure, and exists in us for pleasure alone."

        The poet "considers man and the objects that surround him as acting and reacting upon each other . . . he considers man in his own nature and in his ordinary life . . . He considers man and nature as essentially adapted to each other, and the mind of man as naturally the mirror of the fairest and most interesting properties of nature . . . [he] binds together by passion and knowledge the vast empire of human society, as it is spread over the whole earth, and over all time [an echo of Sydney]."
        The poet is not set apart from other persons by genius or any qualitative difference. The difference between the poet and the non-poet is one of quantity: "the poet is chiefly distinguished from other men by a greater promptness to think and feel without immediate external excitement, and a greater power in expressing such thoughts and feelings as are produced in him in that manner."
        Poetry--here is the famous definition--is the "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings; it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquillity." The emotion recollected is a notion similar to the German Romantic notion of aesthetic arrest. Poetry ultimately has a transportive, salvific, transcendent effect of the human soul.
        Wordsworth raises--and answers--objections over why he--after expressing negative opinions about "poetic diction"--should write in verse at all:

Q: "Why, professing these opinions have I written in verse?"
A: "However I may have restricted myself, there is still left open to me what confessedly constitutes the most valuable object of all writing . . . the great and universal passions of men, the most general and interesting of their occupations, and the entire world of nature before me."

Q: "May not whatever is interesting in these objects be as vividly described in prose?"
A: "Why should I be condemned for attempting to superadd to such description the charm . . . in metrical language?"

Metrical language may 1) "have great efficacy in tempering and restraining passion" in works which might otherwise raise too much passion in the writer and/or reader, or it may 2) "raise the reader to a height of desirable excitement" in a work which otherwise raises too little excitement.