Wordsworth/Coleridge: Lyrical Ballads (Sprache & Litteratur).

Wordsworth/Coleridge: Lyrical Ballads (Sprache & Litteratur). Mit ihrer Gedichtsammlung Lyrical Ballads legten die befreundeten englischen Dichter William Wordsworth und Samuel Taylor Coleridge 1798 ein gemeinsames Werk vor, das bei zeitgenössischen Kritikern auf Ablehnung stieß und das den Beginn der literarischen Romantik in England markiert. In Ablehnung der klassizistischen Poetologie entwickelten sie ein radikal neues Konzept, das einen an Einfachheit und Natürlichkeit orientierten Sprachgebrauch propagiert. Die Anthologie wurde 1800, 1802 und 1805 in erweiterter Form erneut publiziert. Als Textbeispiel dient das Poem Love von Coleridge. Wordsworth/Coleridge: Lyrical Ballads Love All Thoughts, all Passions, all Delights, Whatever stirs this mortal Frame, All are but Ministers of Love, And feed his sacred flame. Oft in my waking dreams do I Live o'er again that happy hour, When midway on the Mount I lay Beside the Ruin'd Tower. The Moonshine stealing o'er the scene Had blended with the Lights of Eve; And she was there, my Hope, my Joy, My own dear Genevieve! She lean'd against the Armed Man, The Statue of the Armed Knight: She stood and listen'd to my Harp Amid the ling'ring Light. Few Sorrows hath she of her own, My Hope, my Joy, my Genevieve! She loves me best, whene'er I sing The Songs, that make her grieve. I play'd a soft and doleful Air, I sang an old and moving Story - An old rude Song that fitted well The Ruin wild and hoary. She listen'd with a flitting Blush, With downcast Eyes and modest Grace; For well she knew, I could not choose But gaze upon her Face. I told her of the Knight, that wore Upon his Shield a burning Brand; And that for ten long Years he woo'd The Lady of the Land. I told her, how he pin'd: and, ah! The low, the deep, the pleading tone, With which I sang another's Love, Interpreted my own. She listen'd with a flitting Blush, With downcast Eyes and modest Grace; And she forgave me, that I gaz'd Too fondly on her Face! But when I told the cruel scorn Which craz'd this bold and lovely Knight, And that he cross'd the mountain woods Nor rested day nor night; That sometimes from the savage Den, And sometimes from the darksome Shade, And sometimes starting up at once In green and sunny Glade, There came, and look'd him in the face, An Angel beautiful and bright; And that he knew, it was a Fiend, This miserable Knight! And that, unknowing what he did, He leapt amid a murd'rous Band, And sav'd from Outrage worse than Death The Lady of the Land; And how she wept and clasp'd his knees And how she tended him in vain - And ever strove to expiate The Scorn, that craz'd his Brain. And that she nurs'd him in a Cave; And how his Madness went away When on the yellow forest leaves A dying Man he lay; His dying words - but when I reach'd That tenderest strain of all the Ditty, My falt'ring Voice and pausing Harp Disturb'd her Soul with Pity! All Impulses of Soul and Sense Had thrill'd my guileless Genevieve, The Music, and the doleful Tale, The rich and balmy Eve; And Hopes, and Fears that kindle Hope, An undistinguishable Throng! And gentle Wishes long subdued, Subdued and cherish'd long! She wept with pity and delight, She blush'd with love and maiden shame; And, like the murmur of a dream, I heard her breathe my name. Her Bosom heav'd - she stepp'd aside; As conscious of my Look, she stepp'd - Then suddenly with timorous eye She fled to me and wept. She half inclosed me with her arms, She press'd me with a meek embrace; And bending back her head look'd up, And gaz'd upon my face. 'Twas partly Love, and partly Fear, And partly 'twas a bashful Art That I might rather feel than see The Swelling of her Heart. I calm'd her fears; and she was calm, And told her love with virgin Pride. And so I won my Genevieve, My bright and beauteous Bride! William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge: Lyrical Ballads. The text of the 1798 edition with the additional 1800 poems and the Prefaces edited with introduction, notes and appendices by R. L. Brett and A. R. Jones. London 1963. S. 117ff. Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.