Lyrical Ballads (Penguin Classics) [Paperback]

William Wordsworth (Author), Samuel Taylor Coleridge (Author), Michael Schmidt (Editor)

Book Description

Release date: January 30, 2007 | Series: Penguin Classics

Twenty-three poems that transformed English poetry

Wordsworth and Coleridge composed this powerful selection of poetry during their youthful and intimate friendship. Reproducing the first edition of 1798, this edition of Lyrical Ballads allows modern readers to recapture the book’s original impact. In these poems—including Wordsworth’s “Lines written a few miles above Tintern Abbey” and Coleridge’s “The Rime of the Ancyent Marinere”—the two poets exercised new energies and opened up new themes.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Coleridge (1772-1834) has been criticized as a political turn-coat, drug addict and plagiarist whose wrecked career left only a handful of magical early poems. But the shaping influence of his highly imaginative criticism is now generally accepted,and his position, along with Wordsworth (1770-1850), as one of the two great progenitors of the English Romantic spirit is assured. A great innovator, Wordsworth permanently enlarged the range of English poetry both in subject matter and treatment. Michael Schmidt is Professor of English and Director of the Writing School at Manchester Metropolitan University. He is the author of the critical history LIVES OF THE POETS (1999), THE STORY OF POETRY (five volumes, 2001-), and THE FIRST POETS: LIVES OF THE ANCIENT GREEK POETS.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Classics (January 30, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140424628
• ISBN-13: 978-0140424621
• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 0.3 x 7.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #241,726 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Romanticism incarnate October 2, 2009

By Nicholas Quijas

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I am not a scholar in any sense of the word, but I feel the need to stress how wonderful this collection is.

"Lyrical Ballads" is often said to be the beginning of the Romantic Movement, a claim which I can neither refute or prove. What I can say for certain, though, is that it is filled with some of the most moving, thought provoking, and beautiful verses ever put on paper. Whether you are looking for something dark, something whimsical, an epic tale, or a sweet romance-there is something in the collection that will appeal to you. Wordsworth and Coleridge are both masters of their craft, a fact that they prove in "Lyrical Ballads"

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful September 15, 2008

By milestogob4Isleep

Format:Paperback

I've already read through half of it for a class and I love it. The language and the images are amazing. A classic, must read.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Penguin is nice, but could still improve. May 14, 2008

By Jonathan W. Frame

Format:Paperback

The layout is nice, table of contents is convenient. I would have given it 5 stars had there been numbering for the lines of the poem for easier citation.