How did the Romantic poets help make lyric poetry prominent in the 18th and 19th centuries?

The Romantic poets were instrumental in elevating lyric poetry to prominence during the 18th and 19th centuries by fundamentally shifting the focus of literature from social commentary to individual experience.12

While 18th-century poetics often prioritized the general and the poet’s role as a spokesperson for society, the Romantics championed the particular and the unique. They redefined poetry as the "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings," a concept famously articulated by William Wordsworth in his preface to Lyrical Ballads. Because the Romantics believed the highest quality of poetry was the intensity of expressed emotion, the lyric form—which is inherently suited to conveying personal thought and feeling—gained new importance.1234

This shift was supported by several key changes:
* Emphasis on Imagination: Poets like Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Blake viewed the imagination as the supreme creative force, prioritizing internal vision over external imitation.12
* Organic Form: Romantics rejected rigid classical genres in favor of an "organic" view, where a poem’s shape is dictated by the poet's feelings rather than external rules.12
* Accessible Language: Wordsworth sought to bring poetic language closer to common speech, moving away from the "stilted" diction of the late 18th century to better express genuine emotion.153