BBC Radio 4 FM

BBC Radio 4 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced BBC Home Service.

BBC Radio 4

Radio 4

Radio 4 (FM)

The New Lyrical Ballads

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media: Arts

BBC Radio 4 - The New Lyrical Ballads

New lyrical ballads by four leading poets to mark 250 years since Wordsworth's birth.

Zaffar Kunial, Kim Moore, Helen Mort and Jacob Polley read new lyrical ballads written in response Wordsworth and Coleridge's 1798 book which changed the course of British poetry.

Lyrical Ballads, a collection of poems by William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge first published in 1798, changed the course of British poetry. Growing up in the Lake District, Wordsworth set out to use the everyday language he heard around him in his poems in order to make them accessible to a wider audience. Both poets drew inspiration from seeing a return to the original state of nature, in which people led a purer and more innocent existence The word Lyrical linked their poems to ancient rustic bards, while Ballad refers to an oral storytelling tradition. Both poets used rural life and country people as the subject of their poetry which was a marked shift from what had come before. 

To mark the 250 anniversary of Wordsworth's birth, four leading poets Zaffar Kunial, Kim Moore, Helen Mort and Jacob Polley read new lyrical ballads inspired by the ideas in the original collection. Each of the contemporary poets have strong links to Cumbria and the Lake District and their poems give us a glimpse into life in the county now.

Produced by Lorna Newman and Susan Roberts 
A BBC North production.

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

The New Lyrical Ballads

Genres

BBC Radio 4 FM

About BBC Radio 4