Lyrical Ballads with Other Poems, 1800, Volume 2

A collection of poetry penned in the early 19th century that explores nature, human emotion, and the complexities of individual experience. This volume particularly focuses on rural themes, with pastoral poems reflecting on the relationships between characters and their natural surroundings, as well as the themes of love, loss, and memory. The opening of the collection sets the tone with a poem titled ''Hart-Leap Well,'' which narrates the tale of Sir Walter, a knight who triumphantly hunts a hart and subsequently reflects on the bittersweet nature of joy and permanence in his surroundings. As he builds a memorial at the site of his victory, the poem contrasts the fleeting ecstasy of the chase with the silence of nature that remains after the thrill has passed. The themes of life, death, and the ultimate return to nature are further expanded in the subsequent poems, where Wordsworth weaves vivid imagery and poignant narratives about characters like Lucy Gray and the coarse emotions of rural life, embedding the reader in the timeless beauty and sorrow of the human condition.