Wordsworth's Revisions

I think Wordsworth's revisions as well as his preface in Lyrical Ballads were aimed toward a particular purpose. We've already discussed that the manner of the printing made the book one that clearly targeted an affluent audience. I think in addition to that some of the changes in sequence such as taking the Ancient Mariner from the beginning of the book served to make it a less "political" and more "artistic" work. He set forth this collection of poems as a break from the established norm and therefore worthy of study and credit as the beginning of a new school. There was also a very conscious effort of Wordsworth to refer to Coleridge as simply his "friend". Things such as this make me feel that Wordsworth's aim was a specific one, to garner acclaim for himself and to insert this collection of works specifically into the English canon.