Critical appreciation of Biographia Literaria (ch-14)

Name: Nikunj Bhatti

Email id: nikunjbhatti332@gimail.com

Roll no: 19

Study: MA semester 1

Year: 2014

Submitted to: Department of English

Topic: Critical appreciation of Biographia Literaria  (ch-14)

Ø Introduction:

Samuel Taylor Coleridge, who was philosopher, poet, and religious and politicaltheorist. He was born in Devonshire, England, and attended the University of Cambridge. In 1795 Coleridge met poet William Wordsworth, with whom he was to work closely. Under Wordsworth’s influence, Coleridge’s poetry shifted to a more conversational voice and began to find inspiration in daily life. Coleridge and Wordsworth collaboratively published Lyrical Ballads in 1798, marking the rise of the British Romantic movement. According to Coleridge, in their collaborative plans it was agreed Coleridge would compose a series of lyrical poems exploring the Romantic and supernatural.

Coleridge was the premier poet-critic of Modern English Tradition, distinguished for the scope and influence of his thinking about literature as much as for his innovative verse. It was published in 1817 in two volumes. His critical work was contained in 24 chapters of Biographia Literaria. In Chapter 14 of Biographia Literaria Coleridge’s view on nature and function of poetry, difference between prose and poem and philosophical discusses the difference between poetry and poem. Now let’s have discusses Coleridge’s Biographia Literaria in detail.

v Two cardinal Points of Poetry:

In beginning of chapter 14 Coleridge discusses two cardinal points of poetry and its significance in the poem.

1) The power of exciting the sympathy of the reader by a faithful adherence to the truth of Nature.

2) The power of giving the interest of novelty by modifying with the colours of imagination.

According to Coleridge, it was decided that words worth would write poetry dealing with the theme of first cardinal point and the other was to be dealt by him. For the first type of poetry, the treatment and subject matter should be, to quote Coleridge,

“The sudden charm, which accidents of light and shade, which moon-light or sun-set diffused over a known and familiar landscape, appeared to represent the practicability of combing both.”

In first point Coleridge says that a poet write a poem related to nature in very simple form and style. Any people can read and enjoy poetry. So who poet is devoted and loyal to the nature and has power to moving reader’s heart and mind towards the nature.

          Coleridge in second point about poetry, he grabs our attention towards supernatural elements and the events.And he also says that he used to write poems, related with this second cardinal point. So, He quotes that:

“The excellence aimed at waste consist in the interesting of the affections by the dramatic truth of such emotions, as would naturally accompany such situations, supposing them real.And real in this sense they have been to every human being who, from whatever source of delusion, has at any time believed himself under supernatural agency.”

Coleridge says about super natural elements, too. He said that poet convertpoetry and atmosphere of poetry withthe help of his self-imagination andwith mind’s eyes poet can turn all natural things into supernatural.

v Coleridge’s Views on Wordsworth’s Poetic Creed :

Coleridge himself not agrees with Wordsworth’s views on poetic diction. So his different point of view about poetic faith he gives in ’Biographia Literaria’. Coleridge writes in defence to the violent assailant to the ’language of real life’ adopted by Wordsworth in the Lyrical Ballads. Coleridge writes in his defence:

“Had Mr. Wordsworth’s poems been the silly, the childish things, which they were for a long time described as being had they been really distinguished from the compositions of other poets merely by meanness of language and inanity of thought; had they indeed contained nothing more than what is found in the parodies and pretended imitations of them; they must have sunk at once, a dead weight, into the slough of oblivion, and have dragged the preface along with them. ”

Coleridge criticizes that Wordsworth’s poem are silly and childish things, means simple formation, like Wordsworth’s poem, The Daffodils

I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o’er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd

A host of dancing Daffodils;

Along the Lake, beneath the trees,

Ten thousand dancing in the breeze.

So, here best examples of Wordsworth’s Diction. So in chapter 14 Coleridge gives full credit to the genius of Wordsworth and quoted that,

“Year after year increased the number of Mr Wordsworth admirers. They were found too not in the lower classes of the reading public, but chiefly among young men of strong ability and meditative minds; and their admiration was distinguished by its intensity, I might almost say, by its religion fervour.”

At this point Coleridge also says that it does not means he agrees with the all points of Wordsworth on poetic faith. To prove the Coleridge writes;

“With many parts of this preface in the sense attributed to them and which the words undoubtedly seem to authorize. I never concurred; but on the contrary objected to them as erroneous in principle, and as contradictory both to other parts of the same preface, and to the author’s own practice in the greater number of the poem themselves.Mr.Wordsworth in his recent collection has find degraded this prefatory disquisition to the end of his second volume, to be read or not at the reader’s choice”

So Coleridge is frank and straight forward to paint out his own views that Wordworth is wrong in theory means principle and contradictory, not only in the parts of the preface but also in the practice of the poet.

v Difference between Prose and Poem:

Difference between prose and Poem we can easily recognise that the poem includes the same elements as Prose. So it is very much difficult to differentiate Poem and Prose but difference is between combination of elements and objects aimed at in both the composition. While the object of the Poet may simply to facilitate the memory to remember the facts. As a result composition will be a Poem, merely because it is distinguished from composition in Prose by metre or by rhyme.

          Like I give here example two lines of the poem, which contains name of the Months and days, without rhyme and metre.

“Thirty days hath September,

April, June and November”

Coleridge further explains his view point by various prose writing and its immediate purpose and ultimate end. A form of literary work prose, poem and poetry are required and written for any subject like Science,fiction,novel and Romance etc.After this Coleridge raises the question that

“Would then the metre super addition of metre, with or without rhyme, entitle these two names of the poems”

After that Coleridge himself gives answer that if metre is wonderfully added the other parts of the composition that also must suite and match with it. And if every part of the composition like metre, diction, topic, subject, theme and rhyme must be harmonize with wholeness with composition and he says that

“Nothing can permanently please, which does not contain in itself the reason why it is so, and not otherwise. If metre is super added, all other parts must be made constant with it. They all must harmonize with each other”

So here Coleridge points out his views about prose and poem as they both are different thing which contains also some elements that can be varied from each of them.

v Difference between Poem and Poetry:

In the last point Coleridge gives arguments about poem and Poetry and he also points out that

“Poetry of the highest kind may exist without metre and even without contradistinguishing object of Poetry”

And he gives example of Plato, Jeremy Taylor and Bible. The quality of that prose in these writing is equal to that of high poetry. Coleridge also said that the poem of and length neither can be nor ought to be all poetry.

·        Coleridge views on Imagination and fancy:

Fancy is needed no other than a mode of memory emancipated from the other order of time and space. Imagination a magic and synthetic power, this power first put in action by the understanding and retained under their remissive.

Primary Imagination: it deals with the object of senses.

Secondary Imagination: it also leads towards the object of senses with emotions and feelings. Poetry is creation of secondary imagination.

v To Sum up:

At last it can be said that this essay contains the difference between prose and poetry as well as difference between Poem and prose so in this essay Coleridge gives his views about prose, poem and Poetry.