Creative writing and the creation of the poet: A romantic perspective

Abstract

The term creative is based on the inventive powers the mind possesses. These powers are the source of imagination which is a main feature required for poetry composition. One of the major literary movements that placed an early emphasis on the powers of imagination is Romanticism. William Wordsworth regards imagination as one of the essential qualities the poet should have and employ in the process of creating poetry. Versification is among the higher forms of creative writing as it requires particular sense of rhyme and meter. However creative writing from a romantic perspective is centered on the figure of the poet as a creator who owns distinguished imaginative powers and techniques beside the skills of verse composition. Nature in the romantic tradition is deemed a major source from which the poet fills his reservoir of imagination needed to write poetry. Against this background, the study of creative writing from a romantic viewpoint should be based on the examination of the concept of the creation of the poet. This paper therefore aims to investigate the romantic conception of creative writing as an activity leading to an inventive production owned by a creator who has already passed a process through which he himself is created as a talented poet.