On 4 October 1798, William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge published a collection of their poems in ‘Lyrical Ballads, with a Few Other Poems‘.

In the ‘Advertisement’ included in the 1798 edition, Wordsworth explained his poetical concept:

The majority of the following poems are to be considered as experiments. They were written chiefly with a view to ascertain how far the language of conversation in the middle and lower classes of society is adapted to the purpose of poetic pleasure.

Nineteen of the poems were by Wordsworth and four by Coleridge. It wasn’t an instant success but is the start of the English Romantic Movement, and resulted in a second edition in 1800.

The first edition includes Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, and Wordsworth’s Lines Written a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey.