The City and State where it is located

Lyrical ballads were a reaction against the current focus on politics, logic, and poetry. This collection of poems, in contrast to those before it, emphasized nature, emotions, and individualism. Numerous then-existing societal norms were broken by the shift and promotion of the new ideas. Wordsworth and Coleridge had distinct perspectives on society. The two were passionate about emotion, identity, and their surroundings, which motivated them to attempt something new. It was customary to write about nobility, kings, and queens during those times. The language was very advanced, and the lower classes had a hard time understanding such literature. With the aim of supporting values and widening the scope of the poetry audience, Coleridge and Wordsworth decided to write poems that the ordinary people could easily relate to, regarding language and the content. The volume was titled Lyrical Ballads. These verses conveyed a strong message of romanticism and were considered as the initial steps towards the contemporary poetry (Wordsworth & Coleridge 2007, p. 145). Although the initial reception was poor, it ultimately received recognition as the pioneer works that ushered the new era of the Romantic Movement in poetry. Currently, Lyrical Ballads is considered amongst the most significant volumes that lead to the modern day era of poetry.

The first edition of the volume was published in 1978 anonymously. Two years later another publication came into being with a significant preface. The preface had some vital information that was conveyed by Wordsworth. To him, poetry was heading in a direction that was too lofty. Although some people had used ballads before, the two authors took things to another level.

Preface to Lyrical Ballads

In this section, Wordsworth explains his views on poetry and what he and Coleridge aim to achieve. He states that devices and literary tricks like personification make it hard for the readers and writers to speak directly and plainly about their feelings. The author hopes to change things through the works in the volume. He states three guiding principles that the volume follows. First, is that poetry must concern itself with the life in the country and nature. The second reason for writing the volume is to stress the status of poetry as an art. The author hopes to enlighten the audience about the true depths of emotions and experience. He finally argues that any good poem must not be very complicated or ornamental to grasp the audience’s imagination. The simple and clean lines are enough.

The author makes two valuable points; poetry should be linked to nature and beauty while at the same being direct and straightforward. He criticizes his pioneers for the innate techniques, themes, and the intricate vocabulary. He argues that poetry is an art which the author conceives through natural feelings genuinely fostered and thought out. He further says that a poem can address multiple topics and should not be restricted to one theme.

The author criticizes the styles of the styles of the predecessors and diction. His purpose is to imitate the language of the common man. In everyday conversations, the personification of the abstract ideas rarely occurs. Therefore such devices are not part of the regular or natural language. The author stresses that loquacious and the vague views will not be part of the ballad. This is to maintain simplicity and produce a piece that will appeal to the everyday folks. He says the same about diction, stating that he won’t include any tangible diction to maintain the clarity and be concise as much as possible.

Poetry and politics

It would be incorrect to treat the French revolution just like any other historical event that only had political significance. This event not only exerted significant influence on the politics of the European continent but also affected the literary and intellectual domains in Europe. It signaled a change in the thinking of poets. The conditions in England during those days made the nation to be open and receptive to the ideas that the French revolution generated. The revolution accelerated the approach of the new romantic era and the decline of the Augustan school of poetry. The poets that were inspired by this event include Samuel Coleridge and William Wordsworth. As a result, they broke away from the norms and composed poems that were entirely different from those of their generation.

The two poets translated the revolution translated the event to reflect issues of equality in the language and subject found in the Lyrical Ballads. Wordsworth, in particular, uses a subject choice and language that suggest literary revolution and mirrors the real revolution. He creatively outlines a boundary that separates poetry from the serious issues.

Wordsworth and his poem the Tintern Abby indicate how his life was affected by the politics of France. Initially, he showed no interest in the situation until he went to France in 1791. He came across a poor girl who was suffering because of the poor French leadership. It was that experience that greatly touched him. In that instance, he became an advocate of the revolutionary forces in the nation. This incident changed his ideas on government and politics completely. He took a keen interest in the political events and emitted his energy and enthusiasm through poetry. In the end, however, he was disappointed since things did not go as per his expectations. He eventually became disillusioned and stressed as the entire process fell short of the goals.

The poem Tintern Abby echoes the author’s anxieties about the political activities in France. It was written at a time when the revolution was almost coming to an end. The writer talks about the loss of dreams, childhood, and innocence. According to him, the dreams were the expectations he had about the revolutions all that never materialized. He was very discouraged at the turn of events. The poem has a melancholic tone and is full of loss and reminiscence. At specific points, he says time has passed and gone with the aching joys. This refers to growing into adulthood and failing to realize or achieve the childhood dreams. The lines can also relate to the aspirations and hopes that people have over specific events but eventually fail to materialize. The poem Tintern Abby reflects the author’s affection for nature (Stillman 2014, p. 123). He also expresses the thoughts and ideas deeply rooted in him. At the point where he lost hope in the political activities, the author sank deep into nature. He deviated from what appeared to be a lot of cause, and his response to the disappointment fruitfully and richly worked towards the publication of the Lyrical Ballads in the year 1978. Through most of his writings, one can see the significant influence the political events had on him. From very high hopes and excitement to the disappointment and the failed dreams.

Samuel Coleridge was another poet that was greatly influenced by the revolution. Although he was not physically involved like Wordsworth both of them, display high levels of emotions and imaginations through their works. Even though the two are always mentioned together, Coleridge was more receptive, sensitive and open to the multidimensional impression of the human world. Whereas both of them were enthusiastic about change, Coleridge looked at things through the religious lens. Godly ideas possessed him, and that was seen in his works, especially his views on the world affairs. Some of his poems show his emotional attachment and a keen interest in the French matters.

The French revolution touched on almost all the citizens of Europe; the question is to what degree the activity impact on their way of life did. By carefully looking at some of the 18th-century poets one can get a clear picture of how the new age of poetry relates to the political transformations (McFarland 2014, p. 201). The revolution was about change, more critically on the national levels. The revolting French complained about everything, and the best way to express such feelings is definitely through writings. At that time the poetry did not seem to matter a lot, however, centuries later their influence cannot be underestimated.

To explain further, the French revolt was about the common man overthrowing the tyrannical monarchs. This is similar to the way the poets were trying to defeat the Augustine way of poetry. The authors broadened the spirits of revolution and implemented them in literature opening the doors to a new way of doing thing.

Themes in Lyrical Ballads

Imagination

Wordsworth talked about the power of human imagination. Using imaginations and memory a person can overcome the pains and difficulty. A good example is where the persona in Tintern Abbey relieves his solitude with imaginations about nature. The limitless abilities of the brain are available to all regardless of a person’s background or class. Such a liberal opinion encourages uniqueness and individuality. Through his work, the author shows unwavering support for artistic, religious and political rights of the people. In the preface to the volume Lyrical Ballads, he defines the relationship between poetry and the mind. He says that a poem is an emotion recollected in tranquility. This means that the brain can transform the raw emotions into the literature that can give one pleasure.

In Tintern Abbey, the author talks about how the human beings change gradually over time and how an individual’s perception is always altered past his youth. He describes his return to Tintern Abbey. Going ahead he says how five years before; his perspective was entirely different (Lowe 2016, p. 76). He talks about his experiences and where nature led him. Currently, he is very diverse and has become more meditative. The thinking is beneficial, by simply remembering the greatness he experienced peace automatically come to him.

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Coleridge has a heavy theme of imagination. This is achieved through the use of gothic elements. In the poem, the persona talks about an interaction between a sailor and a guest in a wedding. The sailor informs the man that he has some stories that he is compelled to tell. All these imply to deep imaginations.

Nature

During the era of the two poets, the industrial revolution was seriously taking place and irredeemably ravaging the environment of the rural communities. The shift towards nature appreciation and admiration is a move that appealed to very many people. The different styles by the two authors achieved their objectives.

For Wordsworth, his admiration for nature was expressed in a great outpouring of feelings, and he praised great aesthetics of nature. He recalled his past interactions with nature under great nostalgia (Lowe 2016, p. 59). Coleridge, on the other hand, was less emotional about nature but rather more gothic. His works contained Miltonic elements and contained brooding. He presented nature with an equal sense of both fear and wonder.

In his poems, Wordsworth presents the lakes and other environments as desolate, and the surroundings grace his mind with unimaginable clarity. Some critics viewed the observation as the nothing more than the writer’s ego. However, in the context of machines vs. humanity, it is true that the author is right and industrialization has blinded the common man’s ability to view nature and comprehend its amazing beauty.

Coleridge supports the points of nature in his works such as Caverns Measureless to Man and Kubla Khan. His most outstanding works, “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” puts humanity at the mercy of nature’s limitless power. There are dark forces that torturer the mariner for shooting an albatross. This implies that humans will suffer severely for interfering with nature. It is risky to mess with the unfathomable forces of nature that one cannot combat.

Literary significance

The times before the publication of the Lyrical Ballads is known as the neoclassical era. It began in the 1660s. It was a duration of common sense and reason. The literature of this time stressed on intellect rather than imagination. The poets preferred social topics, elegance, and wit. To them the emotional expression and personal matters were outrightly vulgar (Cronin, 2016). The poem of this generation talked about the elevated topics and satirized the high social classes. The literature followed a rigid stylistic convention and a decorated language.

The reactions against the neoclassical literature had already started. Works by poets such as William Blake and Robert Burns had previously appeared at the time that Coleridge and Wordsworth began doing their volume. However, the Lyrical Ballads achieved what its predecessors had not. It was a creative deviation from the conventional techniques of the times.

By intentionally applying simple language and refusing to follow the traditional poetic devices, the two authors changed the poetic spirits of those days. They maintained that what one communicates and expresses is more important than how it is presented. In the preface, Wordsworth says that there should be no differences between the language of the verse and the prose. As a result, poets should convey their messages just like the ordinary folks instead of writing in a specialized writing that can only be understood and appreciated by fellow poets. The new approach promised to provide flexibility to the poets and enable them to convey the message more freely.

Through the Lyrical Ballads redefined the role of poetry and the responsibility of the artists. The prior writings were didactic. The writers carefully settled upon the subjects which they wanted to talk about. The Lyrical Ballads, however, seem to disagree and say the writers are not confined to preaching but rather a tool for expressing the inner feelings and thoughts. This stipulates that authors must strive to freely talk about their emotions in ways that will provide pleasure and invoke an emotional response from the audience (Horvath 2016, p. 86). This advice for the movement from the elevated subjects to the more common things in life. It encourages the readers to view the works through imagination and developing a keen eye that will always spot the wonders of the natural world.

By openly and persistently challenging the established rules in the neoclassical era, the volume reenergizes the field of poetry. For that reason, it marked the transition of age. The successful abandonment of neoclassicism and the adoption of the romantic era. The period of Lyrical Ballads is commonly called the romantic era.

Typically romanticism was an age that expressed a broad sense of thought and spirituality. Coming after the period of reason, it stressed on the need for the poets to explore the power of the logic and to find real beauty in nature. With the rapid growth in population and tools that characterized the duration, it was effortless for the education and literature to grow. The poets laid a foundation for the seeking of truths, severe thought, individualistic freedom and stimulation of one’s imagination. The era was a time of resurgence that demanded expression with a loud voice. It was after the French revolution that poetry evolved, a journey that led to what it is today.

References

Cronin, R. ed., 2016. 1798: The Year of the Lyrical Ballads. Springer.

Horvath, S., 2016. How Did Revolutions in Politics Affect the Poetic Revolution in Lyrical Ballads?. The Keats-Shelley Review, 30(1), pp.86-89.

Lowe, D., 2016. ” Poems So Materially Different“: Eighteenth-Century Literary Property and Wordsworth’s Mechanisms of Proprietary Authorship in the 1800 Lyrical Ballads. Studies in Romanticism, 55(1)

Mason, M., 2014. Lyrical ballads. Routledge.

McFarland, T., 2014. Romanticism and the Forms of Ruin: Wordsworth, Coleridge, the Modalities of Fragmentation. Princeton University Press.

Stillman, A., 2014. Samuel Beckett’s Lyrical Ballads. Thinking Verse, 4(1), pp.110-39.

Wordsworth, W. and Coleridge, S.T., 2007. Lyrical ballads. Pearson Education.