The Lyrical Ballads
A champion of poetry as well as a writer of it, Andrew Motion took
over as Poet Laureate from Ted Hughes in 1999. Given his conviction
that poetry has a relevance in all our lives, his nomination of an
eminent collection by two of England’s greatest poets is true to form.
“The
Lyrical Ballads, the great collaborative collection of poetry written by
Wordsworth and Coleridge, and first published in 1798, is one of the
defining documents of the Romantic movement. Not only because it has a
wonderfully democratic range of subjects and interests, but also
because it arises from the kind of self-consciousness we recognise as
being modern. The book is more than two hundred years old now, but
still feels wonderfully fresh and new: it's a beacon, as well as an
icon.”
Read more about and vote on the Lyrical Ballads.
Image of Andrew Motion © Antonio Olmos
Andrew Motion
Poet, novelist, biographer
Apart from being a popular and prolific poet, Andrew Motion is also an
award-winning biographer. His book on Philip Larkin won a Whitbread
prize in 1993 and was drawn from personal knowledge after he met Larkin
while teaching at the University of Hull.
