Lyrical Ballads

Wordsworth's and Coleridge's 1798 Lyrical Ballads emphasize expressing emotion, which is lyricism, and tell folk stories, often with a supernatural twist, which is what ballads do. These forms...

The major themes in Lyrical Ballads include nature and imagination, the wisdom and purity of children, the use of common speech, and the idea that poetry can achieve the sublime through ordinary...

According to the "Preface to Lyrical Ballads," the purpose of the poems is to tell the stories of common people using simple language. Wordsworth aims to communicate the primary laws of human nature...

Lyrical Ballads encapsulates the Romantic Age by challenging the Neoclassical ideals, as outlined in its Preface, which articulates Romanticism's core principles. These include the emphasis on...

In his "Biographia Literaria," Coleridge discusses the two distinct types of poetry that the Wordsworth and himself had intended for their joint volume "Lyrical Ballads" in 1800. He explains that he...

Wordsworth portrays a fulfilling life despite hardship in "Michael" through the character's connection to nature, simple pleasures, and familial love. Michael, an old shepherd, finds fulfillment in...

Readers of the Lyrical Ballads gain insight into Wordsworth's theory that poetry is the "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings." This collection emphasizes the refinement of sensibility,...