Key principles of ‘Preface’ to Lyrical Ballads

Lyrical Ballads is one of the most important collections in the history of English Literature.

It was first published in 1798 and contained poems by William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. An expanded edition was published in 1800 to which Wordsworth added a ‘Preface’ explaining his theories about poetry.

For some critics, Wordsworth’s ‘Preface’ has gained the status of a manifesto for British Romanticism, laying out the core principles of that literary movement.

In this video, Professor Sally Bushell discusses what she identifies as four of the main ideas contained in Wordsworth’s ‘Preface’.

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