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Lyrical Ballads
by William Wordsworth
A collection of pastoral poems that is considered the defining text for the beginning of Romantic-era literature.
Opening
A few passages to enter the atmosphere.
Volume I
Volume I
Expostulation and Reply
“Why, William, on that old gray stone,
“Thus for the length of half a day,
“Why, William, sit you thus alone,
“And dream your time away?
“Where are your books?—that light bequeath’d
“To beings else forlorn and blind!
“Up! up! and drink the spirit breath’d
“From dead men to their kind.
“You look round on your mother earth,
“As if she for no purpose bore you;
“As if you were her first-born birth,
“And none had lived before you!”
One morning thus, by Esthwaite lake,
When life was sweet, I knew not why,
To me my good friend Matthew spake,
And thus I made reply:
Lyrical Ballads
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