Background
Wordsworth, during his early career, focused on writing in blank-verse. However, in March 1798, he began to write a series of poems in ballad meter, which were later added to the Lyrical Ballads. From October 1798 to February 1799, Wordsworth worked on the "Matthew" poems along with the "Lucy" poems and other poems. During this time, Wordsworth was living at Goslar and was separated from Samuel Taylor Coleridge, which caused him to become depressed and feel separation anxiety.
The thematic similarities between the "Lucy" and the "Matthew" poems are so strong that Alan Grob suggests that the two sets of poems should be put "under a single heading as the Goslar lyrics of 1799". The final poem, "Address to the Scholars of the Village School of —" was written in 1800 in two sections, and was later revised for publication in 1842 with the addition of a third section.
Read more about this topic: The Matthew Poems
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