ABSTRACT
A good deal of concern has been shown by teachers of English and lecturers in Education about the problem of selecting poetry for the classroom. Although positive attitudes to poetry can be nourished only by genuine material, much of the verse which is handed out to children is so shallow and insincere that it betrays both teacher and class. The real essence of the poem had eluded teacher and class alike: in this confusion of ‘calmness, richness, stateliness, splendour, dignity and solemnity’, Wordsworth’s concrete images had been lost and with it the warm human heart of his poem. The study of poetry demands a great deal of both teacher and pupils. Emotional relaxation and trust in the group and a kind of intellectual tension between every individual member of it and the mind of the poet are both equally essential to the process.
