The Cambridge Companion to 'Lyrical Ballads'

This accessible collection of essays provides an essential introduction to the volume of poetry that defined British Romanticism.

Lyrical Ballads is a text of huge cultural and literary significance. The cornerstone of British Romantic poetry, it is a must-read for any student of this subject. These accessible essays provide essential contexts and critical approaches, enabling students to find fresh ways of understanding and responding to the volume.Lyrical Ballads (1798) is a work of huge cultural and literary significance. The volume of poetry, in which Coleridge's Rime of the Ancyent Marinere and Wordsworth's Lines written above Tintern Abbey were first published, lies at the heart of British Romanticism, establishing a poetics of powerful feeling, that is, nonetheless, expressed in direct, conversational language and exploring the everyday realities of common life. This engaging, accessible collection provides a comprehensive overview of current approaches to Lyrical Ballads, enabling readers to find fresh ways of understanding and responding to the volume. Sally Bushell's introduction explores how the Preface to the second edition (1800) became a potent manifesto for the Romantic movement. Broad in scope, the Companion includes accessible essays on Wordsworth's experiments with language and metre, ecocritical approaches, the reception of the volume in America and more; furnishing students and scholars with a range of entry points to this seminal text.