essay on coleridge

8/11/2019 Essay on Coleridge

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'hich eng"l#s the cosmos so that it ret"rns to the starting place having ac;"ire$ ne'

insight into the 7li#e o# things9 lie the poet in Tintern Abbey. n this speci#ic case the

con#ine$ poet+ $"e to some acci$ent+ laments his ina&ilit% to 'an$er thro"gh his

&elove$ co"ntr%si$e 'ith his #rien$s the or$s'orhs an$ (harles -am& an$ the

#irst lines are $ominate$ &% the poet)s &itterness+ 'hich maes him regar$ the &o'er+

'here he has &een con#ine$+ as a prison. Slo'l%+ ho'ever+ his imagination taes him

to his #rien$s as he sees them in his min$ 'aling thro"gh his #amiliar $ell.

nterestingl% eno"gh+ there is+ in this #irst part+ the am&ivalent s%m&olism o# the $ell+

'hich+ &eing $ar+ narro'+ an$ $eep+ $epicts the poet)s inner emotional state+ 'hich

has not &een completel% release$ #rom his emotional con#inement 5A&rams+1186.

t is in the secon$ part 'hen he sees his #rien$s emerging in 7the 'i$e 'i$e

on the 'i$e lan$scape ... till all $oth seem > less gross9

he ac;"ires a spirit"al insight 'hich maes him perceive the 7Almight% Spirit9.

n the #inal part the li&erating #orce o# the imagination trans#orms the &o'er #rom a

prison to a soothing place. !he poet has a&an$one$ his egoism an$ his rene'e$

insight has ta"ght him that 7Nat"re ne)er $eserts the 'ise an$ p"re9 an$ that the

$iversit% o# nat"re can 7eep the heart9 responsive to 7-ove an$ ea"t%9. t is this

insight that maes him &less the home'ar$&o"n$ roo+ 'hich is reminiscent o# the

?ariner)s &lessing o# the slim% sea creat"res inThe Rhime of the Ancient Mariner+

since 7no so"n$ is $issonant 'hich tells o# -i#e9.

!his poem+ 'hich is &elieve$ to &e one o# the most s"ccess#"l o# the

(onversation oems+ seems to possess a "ni#ie$ str"ct"re 'here the three parts o# the


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ron$o are smoothl% intert'ine$ pro$"cing a &alance$ poetic 'hole. Some critics

co"l$ claim+ o# co"rse+ that there is a sort o# $i$actism creeping in the last lines o# the

poem that co"l$ have &een le#t o"t. @n the 'hole+ ho'ever+ the poem sho"l$ &e seen

as cele&rating the po'er o# imagination+ 'hich cannot &e con#ine$ in ph%sical

&o"n$aries.

n poems lie the The Eolian Harp+ the presence o# the reproving Sarah+ 'ho

$ra's the poet)s imaginative #light to the gro"n$+ can &e seen as maing the poem

seem inappropriatel% #inishe$. t is tr"e that the Eolian harp on the 'in$o' casement

'hich pro$"ces 7s"ch a so#t 'itcher% o# so"n$9 'ith melo$ies 7hovering on "ntame$

'ing9+ maes his imagination soar to s"ch heights that he comm"nes 'ith the

"niversal spirit o# the @ne -i#e that permeates ever%thing 7'ithin "s an$ a&roa$9.

hat is more+ his 7#litting phantasies "ncalle$ an$ "n$etaine$9 mae his

imagination #l% precario"sl% &e%on$ (hristianit% to a visionar% $imension 'here 7all

o# animate$ nat"re9 can &e seen as 7organic


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sai$ to have &een $estro%e$ &% the moralistic stan=as. @n the one han$+ it is tr"e that

the incl"sion o# these stan=as g"i$es the rea$er to'ar$s a certain rea$ing that the poet

thins appropriate. !his iss"e &ecomes more pro&lematic #rom the #act that (oleri$ge

himsel# has a$mitte$ the intr"sion o# the moral $i$actism in the poem. Repl%ing to

criticisms that there 'as no moral in the poem he claime$ that 7in Chis o'n

*"$gement the poem ha$ too m"ch9.


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spell+ is co"nteracte$ at the en$ o# the secon$ part 'ith the commentar% on the

estrangement &et'een Sir -ioline an$ (hrista&el an$ o# co"rse+ as mentione$ a&ove+

there is the iss"e o# the poem &eing "n#inishe$.


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have even &een Fre"$ian interpretations lie Ro&ert raves) 'ho tho"ght that the

poem is (oleri$ge)s "nconscio"s longing 7to sh"n the ma=% complications o# li#e &%

retreating to a &o'er o# poetr%+ solit"$e an$ opi"m9 'here he 'o"l$ &e a&le to eva$e

the reproo#s o# his 'i#e an$ the gloom% prophecies o# a$$iction "ttere$ &% the

7ancestral voices9 o# -am& an$ (harles -lo%$ 5


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ors (ite$

A&rams ?.

essay on coleridge

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