Lyrical Ballads

Composed collaboratively by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Lyrical Ballads is a collection of ballads, blank-verse and pastoral poems, which marked a dramatic departure from previous Victorian Era poetry in both its form and content. First published anonymously in 1798, the poems in Lyrical Ballads created a new style of poetry—one removed from the constraints of classical forms and themes. These poems championed free rhyme schemes and elevated the experienced of the common man. Many of the poems, like “We are Seven,” “Simon Lee” and “She dwelt among the untrodden ways” are narratives that tell the stories of ordinary men and women using everyday language instead of poetic diction. In addition, nature plays a key role in poems like “Lines Written in Early Spring” and “Lines Written When Sailing in a Boat at Evening.” In Lyrical Ballads, nature is a transcendent force that uplifts the soul and brings humans to a more spiritual state. During Wordsworth’s lifetime, the critical reception of Lyrical Ballads was mixed. Early critics were outraged at Wordsworth and Coleridge’s rejection of formal poetic style and their use of common subjects. Other critics praised the innovation and simplicity of the poems. Today, Lyrical Ballads still provides fertile ground for literary critics, with contemporary scholars focusing on the unity, themes and experimental forms of the poems.