Biographia Literaraia
Introduction:-
The written monuments of Coleridge’s critical work is contained in 24 chapter of
Biographic Literaria (1815-17).In this critical discussion, Coleridge consents
himself not only with the practice of criticism, but also, with its theory. In his
practical approach to criticism, we get the glimpse of Coleridge the poet; whereas
in theoretical discussion, Coleridge the Philosopher came to the center stage.
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, and seeking there to earn a
readers’ “poetic faith,” while Wordsworth planned to use the self and the everyday
as his subject in poems that would replace a sense of familiarity with an air of the
supernatural.
Pairing these two approaches, the poets hoped, might bring into harmony “the two
cardinal points of poetry, the power of exciting the sympathy of the reader by a
faithful adherence to the truth of nature, and the power of giving the interest of
novelty by the modifying colors of imagination.”
Chapter XIV
In chapter XIV (14) of Biographic Literaria, Coleridge’s view on nature and
function of poetry in discussed in philosophical terms .The poet within Coleridge
discusses the difference between poetry and prose, and the immediate function of
poetry, whereas the philosopher discusses the difference between poetry and poem.
He was the first English writer to insist that every work of art is, by its very nature,
an organic whole. At the first step he rules out the assumption, which, from
Horace onwards, had wrought such havoc in critism, that the object of poetry is to
instruct; or, as a less extreme from of the heresy had asserted, to make men morally
better.
Coleridge begins this chapter with his views on two cardinal points of poetry.
The power of exciting the sympathy of the reader by a faithful adherence to
the truth of Nature, and……..
The power of giving the interest of novelty by modifying with the colors of
imagination.
While consistently praising Wordsworth’s creative work, Coleridge was unhappy
that when the second edition of the book was published, Wordsworth added a
preface containing a statement of poetics emphasizing the “language of ordinary
life,” which Coleridge considered to be a significant departure from the
collaborative impulse that shaped the work.
According to him, 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 this rebuttal, Coleridge considers the elements of a poem—sound and meter,
communication, pleasure, and emotional affect—as they function together.
Coleridge describes the reader’s path through such a poem as “like the motion of a
serpent . . . or like the path of sound through the air; at every step he pauses and
half recedes, and from the retrogressive movement collects the force which again
carries him onward.”
Subject Matter – The most important characteristic of his literary text, therefore, he
used supernatural elements, visionary elements in his poems
Language – Sophisticated elaborated and ornamented. According to him the best
part of human language is derived from reflection on the acts of the mind itself. It
is formed by a voluntary appropriate on of fixed symbols to internal acts, to
processes and results of imagination.
Purpose of Poetry – The purpose of poetry is to give pleasure and this pleasure is
from whole part and from each component part. If you read a novel, you take
pleasure from the whole part. If you read a poem, you take pleasure from the each
part.
Poetry – as a source of knowledge, the Poem must be cohesive unit with every part
working together to build into a whole.
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