Synopses & Reviews
The publication of
Lyrical Ballads by William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge marked a radical change in the direction of English Literature. It represented a movement away from the overwrought, highly formal and learned verse of the eighteenth century, and in doing so ushered in a new, more democratic era of poetry. But despite this approach, and the subsequent popularity of poems such as
Tintern Abbey and
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, the collection still presents difficulties, not least because it appeared as four significantly different editions between 1798 and 1805.
In his superb introduction to Lyrical Ballads, Michael Mason examines the collections genesis, encouraging the reader to avoid the critical assumptions that exist around the text; his expert annotations elucidate the poems whilst retaining an enthusiasm for what Wordsworth termed their strangeness. This revised publication of Masons edition includes the complete listing from the final - and most comprehensive - 1805 edition, and the celebrated Preface of the 1800 edition, effectively a manifesto for the future of poetry. It also includes a new preface by John Mullan, which discusses the poems and highlights the value of Masons approach. A new appendix by Daniel Karlin examines Wordsworths revisions and what we might draw from them of Wordsworths development as poet.
Lyrical Ballads was, and remains, a revolutionary collection of poetry. This annotated edition illuminates the poems themselves, and the forms in which they have been presented to the reader.
Professor Michael Mason was Professor of English at University College London and the author of, among others, The Making of Victorian Sexuality (1995). He died in 2003. Professor Daniel Karlin is Professor of English at the University of Sheffield. He is editor of the The Poems of Browning in the Longman Annotated English Poets series and the author of several books. Professor John Mullan is Professor of English at University College London and the author of numerous books. He is a regular pundit on The Late Review and a Guardian columnist.
Synopsis
The most influential collection of poems ever published - fully edited and annotated and including the famous preface of 1800.
- Lists the table of contents of the four different editions, so that readers can compare what stayed in and what was left out
- An appendix compares the same poem from the 1st and 2nd editions, looking at what changes were made, what they could mean and what they show about Wordsworths development as a writer
- Contains a new Preface by John Mullan
- Contains Michael Masons General Introduction, providing the clearest account of the collections genesis, while exploring the Coleridge Wordsworth relationship and the influence their collaboration would have on the generations to come
About the Author
Professor Michael Mason was Professor of English at University College, London and the author of, among other things, Victorian Sexuality.
Professor John Mullan is Professor of English at University College, London and the author of numerous books, a regular pundit on The Late Review and a Guardian columnist.
Professor Danny karlin is Professor of English at Boston University. He is the editor of The Poems of Browning in the Longman Annotated English Poets series and author of numerous books.
Table of Contents
NEW: Introduction by Professor John MullanGeneral introduction: Lyrical Ballads 1798 to 1805.
The Wordsworth-Coleridge collaboration.
Lyrical Ballads generically considered. An infinite complexity of pain and pleasure.
PART 1: Authors accompanying statements: Coleridge's lines on 'The Nightingale'.
Advertisment. Argument to "The Ancient Mariner" (1798).
Coleridge's letter on "love".
Wordsworth's note to "The Thorn".
Wordsworth's note to "The Ancient Mariner"; argument to "The Ancient Mariner" (1800).
Wordsworth to Charles James Fox.
Coleridge to William Wilberforce.
Coleridge to Sir James Bland Burges.
From Wordsworth's letter to Thomas Poole.
Wordsworth to John Wilson.
PART 2: Arrangements and classifications.
PART 3: Authors' later comment
PART 4: Sources
PART 5: The Ancient Mariner
The Complaint of a Forsaken Indian Woman.
Goody Blake and Harry Gill.
The Mad Mother; Ruth 11.49.60.
1978 text of The Ancient Mariner.
NEW: Textual History of Lyrical Ballads by Professor Danny Karlin NEW: Bibilography