Lyrical Ballads, With a Few Other Poems (1798)

by William Wordsworth

"Lyrical Ballads, With a Few Other Poems (1798)" by William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge is a poetry collection published in 1798. This landmark work marks the beginning of English Romanticism, revolutionizing poetry by rejecting elaborate eighteenth-century forms in favor of everyday language and common people as subjects. Wordsworth contributed most poems, while Coleridge added four, including "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner." The collection explores humanity's return to nature's purity, challenging literary conventions and making poetry accessible to ordinary readers through rustic ballads and conversational verse.