English literature and their emergence is marked by the first romantic manifesto in English literature, the "Preface" to "Lyrical Ballads" (1798). The poems in "Lyrical Ballads" were mostly by Wordsworth, though Coleridge contributed "Rime of the Ancient Mariner". Among Wordsworth's most important poems are "Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey", "Resolution and Independence", "" and the autobiographical epic "The Prelude". Robert Southey (1774–1843) was another of the so-called "Lake Poets", and Poet Laureate for 30 years, although his fame has been long eclipsed by William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Thomas De Quincey (1785–1859) is best known for his "Confessions
Robert Southey "The Doctor". He also wrote on political issues, which led to a brief, non-sitting, spell as a Tory Member of Parliament. Robert Southey was born in Wine Street, Bristol, to Robert Southey and Margaret Hill. He was educated at Westminster School, London, (where he was expelled for writing an article in "The Flagellant" attributing the invention of flogging to the Devil) and Balliol College, Oxford. Southey later said of Oxford, "All I learnt was a little swimming ... and a little boating." Experimenting with a writing partnership with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, most notably in their joint composition of "The Fall