"Lyrical Ballads" The Ultimate Critique
Submitted by freefortermpapers on 06/24/2008 03:00 PM
- Category: Biographies
- Words: 1021
- Pages: 5
- Views: 14
- Popularity Rank: 1536
"Lyrical Ballads" The Ultimate Critique
"Lyrical Ballads" The Ultimate Critique
"Lyrical Ballads" came into the world only to receive neglect and criticism. Written by William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge in 1798, who did not even put their names on the title page when it was published, is one of the greatest literary monuments of our time. Although it is comprised of some of the most remarkable poems in the English language, its majority of poems are considered to be experiments. Southy states that "they were written chiefly with a view to ascertain how far the language of conversation in the middle and lower classes of society is adapted to the purpose of poetic pleasure." Even though "Lyrical Ballads" shows great poets at work, it still receives plenty of literary criticism.
"Every piece discovers genius," states Robert Southey, a well known literary figure of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, of the "Lyrical Ballads." According to Southey, the "Idiot Boy" and "Lines written near Tintern Abbey" are the most important poems in this collection. Although he considers Wordsworth one of the best contemporary poets, he argues that the "experiment" is a failure due to the poems' uninteresting subjects. He says they were written with a view to see how the language of conversation is adapted in middle and lower class society for poetic purposes. Southey considers the more serious; better part of the volume, the poems entitled the "Softer-Mothers tale," "The Dungeon," "ines upon the Yew-tree seat," and "The Tales of the Female Vagrant," which he states are beautiful and dramatic narrative. Although he thinks Wordsworth's experiment has failed, he believes he should be ranked with the best of living poets.
"Lines written in Tintern Abbey," written by Wordsworth, is the last poem of this memorable piece of literature. One anonymous critic notes that 1798 is "a year both in its self one of revolution and one full of consequences of a greater revolution,...
You must Login to view the entire paper.
If you are not a member yet, Sign Up for free!
