Coleridge’s Biographia Literaria - Summary

 

Coleridge’s Biographia Literaria

Summary 

Coleridge did not accept the conventions of 18th century poetry and he formed his own theories of poetry. The first of his principles was that: Not the poem which we have read, but that to which we return with the greatest pleasure, possesses that genuine power and claims the name of essential poetry. The second principle was that whatever lines can be translated into other words of the same language without diminution of their significance, are so far vicious in their diction. According to Coleridge, Bowles and Cooper are the first poets who combine natural thoughts with natural diction and the first to reconcile the heart with the head.

The men of great genius are of calm temper in all that relates to themselves. For example, the works of Chaucer are saturated with cheerfulness which reveals the temperament of man himself and Shakespeare’s sweetness of temper and the calmness of self-possession of Milton are all noteworthy.

Coleridge has spoken of the decline of literature in its aim and function. Earlier authors spoke of sages and counsellors as did Bacon. Then they addressed themselves to learned writers and later on they started writing for the candid writer, but the critic had risen as the author sunk. Coleridge points out the striking qualities of Southey as a writer, historian, bibliographer and essayist. Southey was employed wholly in subjects of his own choice and ambition and his achievements are more varied than those of any other writer. As a writer he made his talents subservient to the best interests of humanity. His cause has ever been the cause of pure religion and liberty, of national independence and of national Illumination.

Coleridge draws a distinction between Fancy and Imagination in poetry. He considered that both Fancy and Imagination are two distinct and widely different faculties. Coleridge finds that Fancy and Imagination are often considered to be the same. Fancy and Imagination are two distinct and widely-different faculties. They come from, respectively, the Greek phantasia and the Latin imagination. In the popular usage of these English words, their meanings have, in recent times, come to be almost synonymous. But they should not be, for their root words were not too similar.

Coleridge feels that human nature has been regarded as a problem in all ages and thus provides various solutions to the problem. The first is based on the principle of the absence and presence of the will, which is a materialistic concept. The second concept is idealistic, according to which on our perceptions we seem to ourselves merely passive to an external power. The third theory was based on the fact that human nature acts by a mechanism of its own, without any conscious effort of the will. Here Coleridge also discusses the law of association: its history traced from Aristotle to Hartley. Coleridge discards Hartley’s theory of association.

Coleridge discusses the system of Dualism as introduced by Descartes according to which the soul was regarded as a thinking substance (intelligence) and the body as a space filling substance (matter). But the philosophers did not know how the one acted on the other and then the system was refined by Spinoza first and then by Leibnitz into the doctrine of Harmonic praestabilita. Then there was the hypothesis of Hylozoism according to which if we consider matter and life to be one, we will have to accept that every atom of our body has a soul of its own. Then Coleridge gives the assumption of materialism.

The philosophical studies of Locke, Berkley, Hartley and Leibnitz did not satisfy Coleridge fully and he started wondering whether philosophy is possible as a science and what its conditions are. He soon realized that philosophy is an affectionate search for truth.

His study of Plato, Plotinus, Marsilio Ficino and Giordano Bruno prepared him to accept the ancient and most natural philosophy of seeming hardihood. Coleridge was also affected by the writings of Behmen, De Thyoras and other mystics which made him believe that the philosophy which was based merely on reason was incomplete by its very nature. Coleridge’s understanding became more disciplined after studying Kant. His novelty, originality and the depths and compression of his thoughts impressed Coleridge.

Coleridge discusses the nature and genesis of the imagination of plastic power. To do this he begins with the coinage of a new word “Esemplastic”. He gives a valuable advice to those who felt inclined to authors in early life. He says that one must never pick up literature as a profession as literature can be better produced in a few delightful leisurely hours than in weeks of forced labour. He further adds that talent and genius are two different things and while the former can exist without the latter, the latter can neither exist nor manifest itself without talents.

Coleridge suggests to his readers to either read the whole chapter connectedly or to pass over it entirely. He says that truth is correlative of being. He further says truth is derived from other truth/s. Absolute truth should be sought as self-grounded, unconditional and known by its own light. Coleridge introduces some technical terms in philosophy to preclude confusion of thought. He thinks that unusual and new coined words are truly evil, but vagueness and confusion in thought is a greater evil than that. He does not agree with Wordsworth’s views on Imagination and Fancy.

Coleridge had given a detailed description of his views on Imagination and Fancy. Coleridge believes Imagination to be of two kinds, i.e., Primary and Secondary.

1. Primary Imagination: This is the “living power and prime agent of all human Perception.”

2. Secondary Imagination: This is an echo of the primary imagination; it differs from the primary imagination in Degree and in the Mode of operation. More specifically, it dissolves, diffuses, dissipates, in order to Recreate—or, if that is impossible, to idealize and identify, that means, the functions of memory and mental interpretation of sensory data into meaning within the mind. Coleridge says that the secondary imagination is “essentially Vital” even as all objects, as objects, are essentially fixed and dead. The secondary imagination is pliable and malleable on the voluntary (conscious) or subconscious level, as in dreaming.

On the other hand, Fancy is a mode of memory emancipated from the order of time and space; while it is blended with, and modified by the will, which we express by the word choice. Fancy must receive all its materials ready made from the law of association. With fancy there is no creation involved; it is simply a reconfiguration of existing ideas. Rather than composing a completely original concept or description, the fanciful poet simply reorders concepts, putting them in a new and, possibly, fresh relationship to each other. Through juxtaposition ideas, concepts, and descriptions are made clear. The more imaginative the juxtaposition is, the more exciting the poem becomes. Fancy is a limited or false parallel of Secondary Imagination. Coleridge criticizes Wordsworth’s near-equivalence between imagination and fancy; fancy merely combines; Wordsworth’s fancy is Coleridge’s wit, which is a pure play of the intellect, of concepts, without the passion of poetry.

Coleridge establishes an analogy between the imaginative capability of the poet and the creativity of the “infinite I Am.” Imagination integrates the opposites, finding a balance of contraries. As Wordsworth had said, it makes strange what is familiar and familiarizes what is strange. Indeed, this idea was the groundwork for the original plan of the Lyrical Ballads to be written in collaboration by Wordsworth and Coleridge. Wordsworth was to deal with themes of common life whose imaginative heightening would lead to an intuition of the presence of the unknown; Coleridge would develop fantastic themes (The Ancient Mariner) imaginatively infusing them with the known so as to produce credibility. In any case, Coleridge says, the work of the poet must join accurate observation with the modifying power of imagination, mixing the old and the new in such a way that the freshness of sensations is always present in the poem.

The primary imagination is the miracle of consciousness itself—human consciousness involves self-consciousness. Imagination is the creative, synthesizing power that operates in all perception. Fancy is more limited to sensory data. Fancy is dead; it is too dependent upon the laws of association. The imagination makes possible a permanent revolution in consciousness. Mystery and belief in the supernatural are a meeting ground between Wordsworth and Coleridge, although they start from a different place to get there. A symbol is not just one word or a mere device—it is a mode of language in its own right.

Coleridge describes the occasion of the Lyrical Ballads. He has opined that he would direct his endeavors to persons and characters supernatural, or at least romantic. For his part in the Lyrical Ballads, Wordsworth was to awaken the minds and attention from lethargy of customs and direct it to the loveliness and wonders of the world before us. With these views in mind Coleridge wrote The Ancient Mariner, The Dark Ladie and Christabel.

When Coleridge and Wordsworth were neighbors, they used to discuss the two “cardinal points of poetry”:

1. The power of exciting the reader’s sympathy. . .by a faithful adherence to the truth of nature.

2. The power of giving the interest of novelty by the modifying colors of imagination.

Coleridge observes that a poem cannot be composed by applying one’s general talent to poetic composition, rather it is the result of inspiration and of a genial and productive nature. Coleridge presents striking points of difference between the poetry of the 15^th and 16th century and that of the present age. Coleridge says that the main objective of the poets of the present age is to create new and striking images and that his characters and descriptions are specific and individual but the poet is careless in his diction and meter. Coleridge observes that the poetry of the 15th and 16th century the imagery was always general and even their thoughts were not novel. The poets aimed at exquisite polish of the diction combined with perfect simplicity. They examined the position of words and phrases carefully not only to make each part melodious, but to provide harmony to the whole.

Coleridge praises Wordsworth’s views on reform of poetic diction and for evincing the truth of passion and dramatic propriety of the figures and metaphors in the original poets. Wordsworth made efforts to improve poetic theme and diction. Coleridge objects to Wordsworth’s theory that: “the proper diction for poetry in general consists altogether in a language taken from the mouths of men in real life, a language which actually constitutes the natural conversation of men under the influence of natural feelings”. According to Coleridge the most interesting of Wordsworth’s poems, for example, Michael, Ruth, Brothers, the Mad Mother and so on are by no means taken from rustic life.

Coleridge is convinced that for human soul to prosper in rustic life a certain vantage ground is pre-requisite. It is not every man that is likely to be improved by a country life or by country labours. Education, or original sensibility or both must pre-exist if the changes, forms and incidents of nature are to prove a sufficient stimulant. Where these are not sufficient, the mind contracts and hardens by want of stimulants, and the man becomes selfish, gross and hardhearted. Coleridge states that language comes into being through the voluntary act of the human being. So according to him, the best part of human language, ... is derived from reflections of the acts of the mind itself. Language does not reproduce things. Though language is an organized instrument to express one’s inner act of the mind, it cannot be separated from the active act of reading and understanding by the aid of imagination.

Coleridge points out that a language of a class cannot be adopted merely by using the words which are understood and used by that class. To follow that order of words is also essential for it. This order of words differs in the language of uneducated people from that of the educated ones. An uneducated person is unable to “foresee the whole of what he is to convey” and cannot arrange the different parts of the idea into an “organized whole” to present his idea as a complete unit. Wordsworth in his The Last of the Flock uses words in the manner as commonly used by rustics as well as educated people because the order of words is not the same as used by the uneducated class.

Coleridge points out that it is essential that the poetry differs from that of prose. He focusses on the origin and elements of metre and its necessary consequences. He says that metre is a proper form of poetry and poetry is considered to be imperfect and defective without metre because metre originates from the balance of mind by that spontaneous effort which keeps a check on the workings of passion. Coleridge finds that Wordsworth’s theory guides a poet in the choice of language for his poetry. This theory acts as one of the principles required to be established to meet the ultimate end of criticism.

Wordsworth confined his style and language to the subjects from low and rustic life, which acted as the new theme to English poetry. He did so because the language of the rustic was natural. Many of Wordsworth’s poems in the Lyrical Ballads are good examples of thought, image and passion expressed in simple style and language which is the most suitable for such sentiments and ideas.

Coleridge states that the excellence of Wordsworth’s style is not simplicity but individuality. Wordsworth’s poetry is praised as he confirms to genuine, logical English. Wordsworth’s style is so highly individualized that it can be easily recognized. Even in the poems where he speaks through his characters, hid voice is easily detectable. A person who has read only a few poems of Wordsworth can easily recognize his quotation by recognizing his style. On the other hand, it would be difficult to select a quotation from Wordsworth’s more elevated compositions, examples of diction particularly his own and a style which cannot be imitated because here his choice of words is such as is not commonly used in real life.

Coleridge wishes for a just and fair criticism of Wordsworth’s published poems. He feels that mere opining of any individual or critic must not weigh down the opinion of the author himself. According to Coleridge the investigation in which the critic tries to establish the principles, which form the foundation of poetry in general, is fair and philosophical. Such principles will act as the “canons of criticism” in the light of which the critic will evaluate particular passages either for praise or for criticism. Then if the premises be rational, his deductions legitimate, and his conclusions justly applied, the reader, and possibly the poet himself, may adopt his judgment and in the independence of free agency. Coleridge feels that the critic has a right to praise or condemn a piece of literature while the writer has the authority to reply but not to complain. The limits to the softness or harshness of a critic’s comments cannot be prescribed, yet a critic must choose the appropriate words to produce the effect which he desires to. If, in his criticism, the critic attacks the author for personal reasons, his criticism which is filled with meanness, remains no longer just and impartial and the critic turns into a backbiter.

Wordsworth does not always write in the language of the low and the rustic. He does so only when he is conscious of his theory and thus sticks to it. But a wide number of passages of his poetry have been written in a language which is dignified and suits his grandeur. Coleridge draws attention to certain major defects of Wordsworth’s poetry-the first of which Inconstancy of the style as Wordsworth is very often found using prosaic language in poetry. The second defect in Wordsworth’s poetry, is a matter-of-factness in certain poems. The third defect is an undue predilection for the dramatic form in certain poems. The fourth class of defects arise from an intensity of feeling disproportionate to the knowledge and value of the objects in general, even of the most cultivated classes. The fifth and last defect is that there are thoughts and images too great for the subject.

Coleridge has provided evidence with his Letters from Germany particularly referring to a “disquisition on the modern drama, a critique on the Tragedy of Bertram” that he has been falsely charged with any “fickleness” in his principles of “taste”. In the view of Coleridge, one is sometimes punished for faults by incidents which are not caused by those faults and this a very severe punishment. For there is always a consolatory feeling that accompanies the sense of proportion between antecedents and consequents. The sense of Before and After becomes both intelligible and intellectual when we contemplate the succession in the relations of Cause and effect. Coleridge does not desire to trouble his readers with complaints with which they are not concerned, but he wants them to learn from his experience an important truth that “we must not only love our neighbours as ourselves, but ourselves likewise as our neighbours; and that we can do neither unless we love God above both.” Coleridge had never believed that he had an enemy in the world but then he started thinking whether he had a single friend in the world. His critics, even those who used to appreciate him earlier, had attacked him severely.

Coleridge’s argument about poetic diction:

1. Coleridge opined that in arguing that the language of “metrical composition” is essentially the same as that of prose, if Wordsworth meant only that poetry and prose have the same vocabulary or diction, he was being absolutely true. But, Coleridge concluded that Wordsworth really meant that the poetic manner of combining words was no different from that of prose, and this he retorted as apparently false.

2. Coleridge argued that if a given figure or image is used badly by a given poet, the reason for the badness is not that the figure is a repetition of what other poets have done, but that in some way or the other, “grammar, logic, psychology”, “good sense” or “taste” may have been violated.

3. Coleridge also argued that education, and not the lack of it, makes a poet. Uneducated men are disorderly in their writing. If the peasantry of Wordsworth’s Westmoreland spoke a vigorous language this came not from uninstructed communion with nature, but from a spirit of independence and from a solid religious education and acquaintance with the Bible and hymnbook. One kind of speech (socially defined) could not be more real than another.

Coleridge’s view about Poem

Poem is “that species of composition, which is opposed to works of science, by proposing for its immediate object pleasure, not truth; and from all other species . . . it is discriminated by proposing to itself such delight from the whole, as is compatible with a distinct gratification from each component part.” So, a poem is a living, complex entity. If you cut a branch from the tree, the tree isn’t whole anymore, and the branch has lost its purpose.

Coleridge’s view about Poet

The poet is the person who can, by creative imagination, produce the poetry. A poet is a unified person who “brings the whole soul of man into activity.” Imagination of this sort demonstrates the potential for the harmonious operation of our faculties: sensory perception, feeling, reason or intellect, willpower, which will not be at odds when we are engaged with a poem; all will be exercised in a productive way. Imagination may be what Coleridge calls in the Biographia Literaria the esemplastic power or the power that “makes things into one”. It “reveals itself in the balance or reconciliation of opposite or discordant qualities.” “Lucy Gray” is a fine illustration of imagination at work in creating symbolic language: Lucy, the star, and the violet don’t lose their identity but instead gain something by being related to one another so vitally. Coleridge’s “Dejection: an Ode” offers a negative illustration in which the poet’s imagination isn’t harmonizing the natural world with his own subjective experience and emotional state. He remains isolated, and can create no order because his “genial spirits fail” and he can only “see, not feel,” how beautiful nature’s eternal forms are. Symbolic language is said to remain true to the creative and imaginative process; it registers the “life” in which alone “nature lives.” It does not render the world as externality, and does not imitate it or distort it, but brings home to us the power of the primary and secondary imagination.

Critics have reacted strongly to the Biographia Literaria:

Herbert Read says that Coleridge “made criticism into science, and using his own experiences and those of his fellow poets as material for his research, revealed to the world for the first time some part of the mystery of genius and of the universal and eternal significance of art.”

I. A. Richards considers Coleridge to be a fore-runner of science and semantics and compares him to Galileo who discovered new fields of human enquiry.

Prof. Raysor and Rene Wellek do not have a high opinion of Coleridge as a critic. Prof. Raysor considers Coleridge’s theory of imagination as “eccentric and unfortunate” and regards Coleridge as a “mediocre philosopher.” Rene Wellek is of the opinion that Coleridge’s theories are either derived or borrowed from German philosophers, especially Schelling.

Cazamian forms a high opinion of Coleridge and his Biographia Literaria. He says: The well-known differentiation between imagination and fancy, which Wordsworth interpreted after his own fashion, is a way to laying stress upon the creative activity of the mind, as opposed to the passive association of mental pictures; but for Coleridge it has a mystical significance. This feeling for the secret link existing between problems, together with this habit of intermingling, even perhaps of confounding them, by no means deprives him of vision on precise points.