M5-2

Josephine Smithe
HIS 101
December 23, 2014
Primary and Secondary Source Comparison

Lyrical Ballads

The primary source selected for this comparison was Lyrical Ballads by

Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Wordsworth. This source was first published

in 1798 and then republished in 1802 with more content, though the one discussed

here is the original publication. The “Advertisement” at the beginning of the book

indicates that Coleridge was attempting to spread the idea that poetry was much

more than rhyming ridiculous, bawdy phrases spread for the enjoyment of the

masses and instead that poetry should appeal to those with more refined senses.

This indicates that his audience is really the middle and upper classes – those with

more time on their hands for contemplation of language and metaphor. The

purpose of writing and publishing these poems is also described in the

“Advertisement” as an experiment; “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 purposes of poetic pleasure” (Coleridge, 1798, p. i). The

authors’ biases are apparent as well. Previous attempts at poetry, popular during

the period, are dismissed as gaudy and inane. Much more than an experiment, it

seems Coleridge is trying to redefine poetry itself. The impact of the primary

source on history was immense. This was the height of the Romantic era.

Lyrical Ballads was a collaboration between William Wordsworth and Samuel

Taylor Coleridge which stands as a literary masterpiece of Romanticism.

The secondary source selected was an article found at www.poets.org

One secondary
source article
selected for
comparison on
a similar topic.
(See 2 on
instructions)

The primary
source is
identified
and the
questions
listed in
item 4 of the
instructions
are
thoroughly
answered in
regard to the
source.

http://www.poets.org/

entitled “A Brief Guide to Romanticism.” Poets.org is a website created by the

Academy of American Poets. This is a membership based, nonprofit organization

founded in 1934 in New York City. The Academy receives funding from entities

such as the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the

Humanities among others. The audience for this artcle would be students and/or

lovers of poetry trying to understand the late 18th century movement. The

secondary source is a very brief summary of the Romantic movement meant to

make the reading of poetry from the era richer and more engaging. There is a bias

simply in the belief that poetry of this era is valuable. The first statement of the

article claims that Romanticism was the largest artistic movement of the era, placing

poetry in the realm of art (Poets.org, para. 1). The article was published in 2004,

making it irrefutably a secondary source. The article claims that the Romantic

movement incorporated ideas which were seen on the political landscape, such as

freedom and revolution into art. This period also created the modern stereotype of

a poet as one who feels things much more in-depth than others. Prior to reading

this article, I understood Romanticism on an intellectual level but not an emotional

one. I did not understand that political theory and art might be related.

When you read the poetry of Coleridge, beginning as the book begins with

“The Rime of the Ancyent Marinere,” you quickly realize that the advertisement of

the 1798 edition was accurate in that the language was plainer and the subject

matter was less grand. In fact, “The Rime of the Ancyent Marinere” incorporates

these new ideas while harkening back to ballads such as Homer’s Illyiad or Odyssey

from Ancient Greece. There is a hint that the world has been turned upside down in

The
secondary
source is
identified
and the
questions
listed in
item 4 of the
instructions
are
thoroughly
answered in
regard to the
source.

these poems, maybe a reference to the almost complete French Revolution that had

such an impact on all of Europe. By comparing the primary document – Coleridge’s

Lyrical Ballads – with the secondary source – “A Brief Guide to Romanticism” – it is

clear to see that the rich fullness of history is lost in a summary. To truly

understand the perspectives of history it is necessary to read and consider a

primary source such as Lyrical Ballads without preconceived notions of greatness or

failures.

A paragraph summarizing what
you learned by comparing the
primary source with your selected
secondary source. This is not just a
summary of the sources, but what
you learned about different source
types.

References
Academy of American Poets (2004). A Brief Guide to Romanticism. Retrieved

December 29, 2014, from poets.org:
http://www.poets.org/poetsorg/text/brief-guide-romanticism

Coleridge, S. T. and Wordsworth, W. (1798). Lyrical Ballads. Retrieved December 27,

2014, from Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia:
http://web.archive.org/web/20030130214428/http://etext.lib.virginia.edu
/etcbin/toccer-
new2?id=Wor2Lyr.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/mod
eng/parsed&tag=public&part=front

A list of your primary and secondary sources in one of the
approved formats (APA, MLA or Chicago Style for Humanities). In
this example, the Microsoft Word reference tool was used to
create an APA Reference page.

References