Lyrical Ballads

A book I read this year is Lyrical Ballads by William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

It is a book of poetry. It is a collab between two of the greatest poets of the 18th century. They decided that Coleridge would write poems about supernatural themes and Wordsworth would write about simple ordinary themes. The awesome thing about this book is that they did not believe that poetry was or should be a saleable commodity. When that understanding dawned on me I sort of felt as though they were real poets. They did not even write their own names in the Lyrical Ballads when it was first published. The advertisement did not encourage the readers to read the volume. The advertisement said these poems are experiments and strange and would make the reader uncomfortable. If we consider John Keats Ode to a Nightingale a typical poem then we may find some of the themes of the poems in Lyrical Ballads disconcerting. When the first volume of Lyrical Ballads was published Wordsworth and Coleridge did not write anything about the poems or about themselves in the volume. They wanted the poems to speak to the reader. This was a huge literary controversy that brewed in the literary landscape of England in the 18th century. It feels great to know that books of poetry were published without even the name of the author. With words positively discouraging the reader to read the poems because they were an experiment. If we go to a bookstore today we see books by contemperory authors and the book covers tell us how great this book is. Usually excerpts from glowing reviews or recommendations from fellow writers are given. A short biography of the author is given at the back. Lyrical Ballads does none of it. In addition it says if you read it you will feel awkward. In low grade literature we often see phrases like "riveting tale of treachery," or story of passion, betrayel and redemption. If you think about it the word redemption is a holy word. It is from the bible. Yet it is widely used in low grade literature. I thought such books were a new phenomenon. But the preface to the second edition? of lyrical ballads tells me that such literature was there even in the 18th century. The reason Wordsworth and Coleridge wrote about awkward topics was because Wordsworth saw authenticity in "low and rustic life." Personally I like writing books with no sales pitch but I don't feel some themes are okay for poetry. This is my take on Lyrical Ballads.