Lyrical Ballads

In his superb introduction to Lyrical Ballads, Michael Mason examines the collection’s 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 Mason’s 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.