Biographia Literaria - Or Biographical Sketches of My Literary Life and Opinions (1817)

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The narrative unfolds through a dialogue between Wordsworth and Coleridge, who, after returning from Germany, contemplate a new edition of Lyrical Ballads. Their discussions lead to the idea of a critical Preface, largely attributed to Coleridge's influence. The work explores the relationship between poetic language and everyday speech, as well as the nature of poetry's subjects. Wordsworth's Preface presents the notion of using "the real language of men in a state of vivid sensation" to address these themes, forming the core of the latter half of Biographia Literaria.