In the autumn of 1798, he
published his _Lyrical Ballads_, which contained, besides his own verses,
a poem by an anonymous friend. The poem was _The Ancient Mariner_; the
friend, Coleridge. In the joint operation, Wordsworth took the part based
on nature; Coleridge illustrated the supernatural. The _Ballads_ were
received with undisguised contempt; nor, by reason of its company, did
_The Ancient Mariner_ have a much better hearing. Wordsworth preserved his
equanimity, and an implicit faith in himself.
After a visit to Germany, he settled in 1799 at Grasmere, in the Lake
country, and the next year republished the _Lyrical Ballads_ with a new
volume, both of which passed to another edition in 1802. With this
edition, Wordsworth ran up his revolutionary flag and nailed it to the
mast.
POETICAL CANONS.--It would be impossible as well as unnecessary to attempt
an analysis of even the principal poems of so voluminous a writer; but it
is important to state in substance the poetical canons he laid down. They
may be found in the prefaces to the various editions of his _Ballads_, and
may be thus epitomized:
I.
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