Interpretation Of The Romantic Imagination In Samuel Taylor Coleridge's Era

BibliographyAsbee, S. (2006) Approaching Poetry, Milton Keynes, The Open UniversityReid, N. (2006) Coleridge, Form and Symbol, Or the Ascertaining Vision, Aldershot, Ashgate PublishingWellek, R. (1963) The Concept of Romanticism in literary historyin Bygrave, S (2006) Romantic Writings London, The Open UniversityZuk, E. Coleridges Blank Verse [online], http://www.expansivepoetryonline.com/journal/cult072004.html (Accessed 28th April 2008)

dismissal of all preceding drivel (as to adequately and respectfully embrace the noumenal realm). Coleridge’s brain waves wend in a circuitous manner, however, the final result is a sentiment-shift regarding man’s position before (or, as Coleridge concludes, beneath) God.

Poetry is used to express several different mediums through: structure, tone, imagery and rhyme schemes. John Keats’s ode “To Autumn” and Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poem “Kubla Khan” or, a Vision in a Dream” will be critically analyzed, compared and contrasted to each throughout this paper to further dissected the meaning of each poem.

For as long as it can be remembered people have used multiple forms of literature in order to gain knowledge, entertain, and even express a certain idea. Poetry is in fact one of those forms of literature, and before people began to write it, it was known to be told verbally by many. A person would tell a tale and those who listened would memorize it, what eventually caused poetry to spread around. Still to this day, many come to fall in love with the magic poetry possesses. It is the writer’s decision to either have a specific rhythm to it or just have a simple list of words. This essay argues that poetry is a creative way of expressing one's emotions and that it should be, not only preserved, but celebrated, even by those who have not considered themselves poetry fans in the past.

At the end of chapter 20 in Coleridge’s Biographia Literaria, Coleridge describes his own experience with poetry and its effect on others’ imagination from an outsiders point of view:

The aspects of Romanticism that these poems reflect are imagination, nature, and the movement towards liberty and equality. Wolfson and Manning described the significance of imagination in ‘The Romantics and their Contemporaries’, ‘In this vibrant culture of new imaginative possibilities, ‘Imagination’ itself became a subject of reflection, and often debate’ (Wolfson 8). The poem ‘Kubla Khan’, shows the importance of imagination in romantic literature. The enchanted dreams and inspired visions that Wolfson and Manning describe are shown many times throughout Kubla Khan, when the author is describing his dream ‘And mid these dancing rocks at once and ever, It flung up momentarily the sacred river’ (Coleridge 670). Nature was also a significant and reoccurring theme during the Romantic Period. Writers tended to focus on the educational aspects that nature could provide to the reader. Wordsworth describes his opinion on the importance of nature and its educational value it holds in his poem ‘The Tables Turned’. ‘Books! ‘tis a dull and endless strife, Come, hear the woodland linnet, How sweet his music; on my life, There’s more of wisdom in it’ (Wordsworth 427). Wordsworth’s reply suggests that he doesn’t need books to learn, he is letting

Lastly, the Romantic Era blended human emotions with nature. The interfacing of emotion and nature was emblematic of Romantic poetry, whether it engrossed the idea of bequeathing human emotions to an innate article like a river or connecting the scenery to the temperament of the writer. (James, 491) This kind of beauty that is

Over the years great writers have influenced literature in many ways from Shakespeare to Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Coleridge was a groundbreaking poet whose idea of poetry remains the standard by which others in English are tried. He was notably responsible for new German demanding philosophy. His talks about imagination remain the component of institutional criticism. All the while his infrequent notations on language helped develop Cambridge English in the 1920s. He is described as a literary critic, psychologist of the imagination, a crucial theologian, and conservative social philosopher. Coleridge’s poems and other works placed him in a high spot among major critics in literature. His early life helped shape who he became as an

Such a situation warrants Coleridge the title of visionary, and therefore his poem becomes a vision: a Romantically textual utopia whose realisation was challenged by the rational status quo of its historical origin. Due to this, Coleridge’s work will always seek practical affirmation and will therefore constantly be the source of metaphysically-oriented debate, leaving the dualism that rules it to be decided by the reader and the ideologies he or she brings to the text. This conclusion is supported by the words of John Beer:

Throughout the beginning of the poem there are religious undertones Coleridge uses words like bended knee and reverential to highlight a religious belief and perhaps a plea to God to cure the “Pains of Sleep” this is interesting as he seems to feel “humbled” by the spirit presence. He mentions being weak but realises he is blest by this power. The religious undertone suggests to me a feeling of utter helplessness.

Coleridge agrees with Kant’s productive paradigm of imagination. Both theorists support the idea of the imagination no longer

Samuel Taylor Coleridge uses nature as a catalyst to search deeper into his mind and discover the surreal creativity of his own imagination. "This Lime-Tree Bower My Prison" depicts an out-of-body vision that encompasses a breathtaking vista of green mountains and purple flowers from the eyes of an imaginer. Gazing at it "with swimming sense," the picture becomes "less gross than bodily," causing the swirling colors to form something only found in the divine. However surreal this picture is, nothing can compare to Cloleridge's vision in "Kubla Khan." In this poem he uses nature's creations to depict unnatural scenes. In "caverns measureless to man," Kubla Khan wants to build a "sunny pleasure-dome with caves of ice." Such a place is only real in the imagination and in the written word, which is why this poem seems so tangible to the eye. He comes across these imaginary visions while "meandering with a mazy motion through wood and dale," where these thoughts come alive. It explains through alliteration how walking through wooded paths, accompanied only by one's mind, one comes upon new feelings and thoughts that are only palpable in that wood. Nature inspires Samuel Coleridge to exorcise his mind's eye and create a heavenly atmosphere.

With the formation of a “rare device”, symbolizing his masterpiece of poetry, Coleridge acknowledges that poetry forms through the combination of nature and human perception. In the end, Coleridge demands the readers to “beware” (49, p.1634) of the power of the inspired poet, who recreates his own “sunny dome” (47, p.1634) in the protection of a “circle round him thrice” (51, p.1634). The energy from nature is eventually transferred to the poet, the poet to use his imagination to create his own “Paradise” (54, p.1634), which resembles Xanadu of Kubla Khan. Through the metaphors developing in the poem, Coleridge pieces together the process a Romantic poet creates a poem from the inspiration of a nature scene.

Coming in contact with one another for a year, this is a period that presents the creative in both individuals. They both were very different individuals. Even though Wordsworth was a at ease person which was shown in his work compared to Coleridge he was more of a self-doubted person. Wordsworth and both Coleridge invented a new style of poetry in which nature and the diction of the common man trumped formal, stylized language. And although, both were separated from one another later Wordsworth continued writing without the support of

Samuel Taylor Coleridge had such an imaginative mind, especially in the late-eighteenth century. I wish I could personally peek inside his mind, but my only option is to read his works in order to develop an insight of his thought process. What attracts to me to Coleridge’s writing is not only the rhyme structure, but the themes that he works with within his poetry. I am particularly fond of the following themes: the supernatural, good and evil, transformation, and influence. In order to explore these themes within Coleridge’s work I have selected two poems to research, the poems are the following: “Christabel” and “The Rime of The Ancient Mariner.”