Wordsworth is the first English critic to consider at length the nature of poetry, and the creative process. He is a great pioneer in this field. Wordsworth is a romantic in his emphasis on spontaneity, imagination, intuition and inspiration.
But unlike the other romantics, he also lays stress on the element of thought in poetry. He has a high conception of his own calling, and so knows that great poetry cannot be produced by a careless or thoughtless person.