Why is Lyrical Ballads considered the beginning of English Romanticism?

Lyrical Ballads (1798), a collaborative collection by William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, is considered the beginning of English Romanticism because it fundamentally challenged the formal, Neoclassical conventions of the 18th century.123

The collection introduced a revolutionary approach to poetry characterized by:

• Common Language: The poets sought to use the language "really used by men" rather than the elevated or formal diction typical of the era.143
• Everyday Subject Matter: Instead of grand, abstract topics, they focused on humble, rustic people and commonplace experiences to illustrate basic truths of human nature.143
• Emphasis on Feeling: Wordsworth famously defined poetry as "the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings," shifting the focus toward individual perception and personal emotion.12
• Organic Form: The poets rejected rigid genre rules, favoring an organic structure where a poem’s shape is dictated by the creative imagination rather than external decorum.2

By prioritizing sincerity, individual experience, and the imagination, Lyrical Ballads and its subsequent preface established the manifesto for the English Romantic movement.23