Why does Wordsworth decide to use rhythm and rhyme in his poems?

Question

William Wordsworth

Answer 1

Lots of reasoning expounded on so far, but as a writer of metered rhyming poetry myself, I'll tell you why he wrote that way.

He liked the sound of it.

Always read poetry aloud, it sounds different to the ears than to the mind.

Answer 2

Wordsworth is considered one of the fathers of the British Romanticism movement which is generally dated at the end of the 1700s.  At that time, all poetry would have had some form of traditional rhyme and regular rhythm.  It wasn't until the 1800s that poetry became a more open form where free verse was used, and it really wasn't until the 20th century that non-rhymed and irregular rhythm became the norm for poetry.

Answer 3

Most romantics used rhyme and "traditional" rhythm schemes in their poetry- free verse wasn't common until the early 20th century. Wordsworth was a typical romantic in every sense of the word- he wrote about nature and the aesthetics of nature, in an almost spiritual sense.

You could argue that the patterns in nature (think circle of life, the golden ratio, fractals, etc...) lend themselves for more patterned poetry (strict rhyme and rhythm schemes, etc).

Answer 4

Wordsworth was a poet whose poems were meant to be spoken aloud, much like rap music without the music behind the spoken rap.

So he wrote his poems with rhythm and rhyme, first so they would be easily remembered correctly, and second, because they tell a story minus the music.

I'm guessing Wordsworth would be writing rap music songs if he were alive today.