Lyrical Ballads is Published
1798
Lyrical Ballads was a collection of poems written by William Wordsworth and Samuel Coleridge. The two of them were close friends, and they had planned to release a volume of poetry that Wordsworth labeled "experimental." This collection of poetry included poems about nature, and some subjects included the lives of "humble" people. Coleridge published a poem called "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" which tells the story of a sailor who kills an albatross, which is a known symbol of good luck. The sailor has to deal with the consequences of killing the albatross throughout this story. One of the consequences is that the sailor learns how to appreciate animals that share the same earth as he does. Another poem from Lyrical Ballads is called "We Are Seven" which features a man talking to a little girl who visits the graves of her deceased siblings. Two have died, leaving five alive, but this little girl insists there are still seven children. With the little girl still insisting there are seven children, including the two who have passed, this shows how innocent or naive the little girl is at heart. However, this still comes across as her seeing the two deceased siblings as a part of her, as she does not discredit their lives. Grief is involved for everyone in life, and some ways in which we cope is to always remember the people who have passed on, and continue to talk of them inclusively. This way, their lives aren't discredited in any ways. On another note, an aspect of living is to learn from our mistakes in the same way the sailor does in "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner." After making a large mistake, we can still take little steps to redeem ourselves, and learn lessons in order to feel regret. The regret may eventually cease, but the important part is to remember that mistakes happen and there is always time to make up for them.
Coleridge Taylor, Samuel. "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner." The Norton Anthology of English Literature: The Romantic Period, edited by Stephen Greenblatt, et al., 11th edition, vol. D, W.W. Norton, 2012, pp. 475-490.
Kerr, Jonathan. "A New Species of Poetry: The Making of Lyrical Ballads." Wordsworth, 13 Aug, 2014, wordsworth.org.uk/blog/2014/08…....
Luty, John. Churchyard. Public Domain Pictures, www.publicdomainpictures.net/e…....
Wordsworth, William. "We Are Seven." The Norton Anthology of English Literature: The Romantic Period, edited by Stephen Greenblatt, et al., 11th edition, vol. D, W.W. Norton, 2012, pp. 322.