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INTRODUCTION 
Jagruti
rameshbhai vasani
Semester:- 1
Roll no :-
54
Paper 3 :- Literary
theory & criticism
Topic :-
Biographia literaria by Coleridge
MKBU
Author : -
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Published :-
1817
It has
twenty three chapters.
Structure and Tone
The
work is long and seemingly loosely structured , and although there are
autobiographical elements , it is not a straightforward or linear
autobiography. Instead , it is meditative .
Content
The work was
originally intended as a mere preface to a collected volume of his poems ,
explaning and justifying his own style and practice in poetry. The work grew to
a literary autobiography , including , together with many facts concerning his
education and studies and his early literary adventures , an extended criticism
of William Wordsworth’s theory of
poetry as given in the preface to the Lyrical
Ballads (a work on which Coleridge collaborated ) and a statement of
coleridge’s philosophical views.
In the first part of the work Coleridge is
mainly concerned with showing the evolution of his philosophic creed. At first
an adherent of the associational psychology of David Hartly , he came to
discard this mechanical system for the belief that the mind is not a passive
but an active agency in the apprehension of reality . the author believed in
the “ self sufficing “ power of absolute
genius “ and distinguished between genius and talent as between “ an agg and an
agg shell “ . the discussion involves his definition of the imagination or “
esemplastic power “ , the faculty by which the soul perceives the spiritual unity
of the universe , as distinguished from the fancy or merely associative
function .
The
book has numerous essays on philosophy . in particular it discusses and
engages the philosophy of Immanuel kant, johann gottlieb fichte and friedrich
Wilhelm joseph von schelling. Being fluent in german , Coleridge was one of the
first major English literary figures to translate and discuss schelling , in
particular .
The later chapters of the book deal with
the nature of poetry and with the question of diction raised by wordsworth .
while maintaining a general agreement with wordsworth’s point of view ,
Coleridge elaborately refutes his principle that the language of poetry should
be one taken with due exceptions from the mouths of men in real life , and that
there can be no essential difference between the language and prose and of
metrical composition . a critique on the qualities of wordsworth’s poetry
concludes the volum .
The book contains coleridge’s celebrated
and vexed distinction between “ imagination “ and “ fancy “ . chapter 14 is the
origin of the famous critical concept of a “ willing suspension of disbelief “
.
Critical reaction
Critics have reacted strongly to the
Biographia Literaria . early reactions were that it was a demonstration of
Coleridge’s opiate-driven decline into ill health . recent re – evaluations
have given it more credit . while contemporary critics recognize the degree to
which Coleridge borrowed from his sources ( with straight lifts from schelling
), they also see in the work far more structure and planning than is apparent
on first glance .
Major works
●Demonic
poems
-The rime of the ancient mariner
- kubla khan
- christable
●
Conversational poems
- Frost at morning
- Dejection : an ode
● Essays
- Biographia literaria
- Lectures on Shakespeare
Difference
between poem and prose :
Prose =
words in their best order ;
Poem = the
best words in the best order .
According to Coleridge
“ poetry of the highnest kind may exist
without metre and even without rhyme and was contradistinguish object of mind
:”
According to Coleridge , poem and prose can
not be distinguse from rhyme or metre but he said ultimate and immediate can
make them different . the immediate aim of poetry is to give aesthetic pleasure
. the ultimate aim of prose is to show fact while ultimate aim of prose is to
show fact while ultimate aim of poetry is to show truth .
POEM :
In poem we can observed that if one person
create hos own creation he included his feelings that’s call poem .
PROSE :
Prose means
, “ written or spoken language in its ordinary form without metrical structure
. “ or ‘words’s in their best order . ‘
EG..If a
writer says something directly or in a prosaic form has different impression
than a poet says in a poetic manner . if a writer expressed love in prose is
good but the lines “ my love is like a red rose….. “ is more affective . the
second one gives truth with delight while the first one is just related with
truth . so the prose has all the qualities but it has slight different and it’s the feeling of delight .
ELEMENTS OF PROSE AND POEM
POEM :
Metre
Rhyme
Diction
Theme
Harmonize
PROSE :
Metre
Rhyme
-
Thenature
of poem
-
Verbal
expression of activity
-
Poem
should be pleasurable
-
Poem
defined as a species ofcomposition
THE NATURE
OF PROSE
● Immediate
purpose to give truth :
“ it must be one , the parts of which
mutually supports and explain each other ; allinthier propotion harmonizing
-with , and
supporting the purpose and known influences of metrical arrangement . “
ACCORDING TO
COLERIDGE :
“ Poetry of
the highest kind may exist without metre and even without rhyme and was
contradistinguish object of mind :”
The main different between poem and poetry is…
For it is a distinction resulting from the poetic genius itself , which
sustains and modifies the images , thought , and emotion of the poet’s own mind
. thus the difference between poetry is not given in clear terms . this
defining poetry and poem is not clear , to defining poetry proceeds to
enumerate the charcteristics of the imagination .
And while secondary imagination blends and
harmonizes the natural and the artificial subordinates to nature , the manner
to the matter, and our admiration of the poet to our sympathy with the poetry.
DIFFERENCE
BETWEEN POEM AND POETRY :
The poem of
any length neither can be , nor ought to be all poetry . ‘
One is a
specific instance of the other . means poem is a specific instance of poetry .
poetry is a kind of tree and poem is one branch of these tree . it’s all
depended on imagination .
*IMAGINATION
Creating and recreating known and seen images
. ‘
There are
two types of imagination .
1.
Primary
imagination
Uniting the objects of sense .
2 . secondary imagination
Unifying the objects of senses with
emotions and feelings.
Poetry is :
Distinction resulting from the poetic genius
itself , which sustains and modifies the images , thoughts , and emotions of
the poet’s own mind ,
-
The
best words in their best order ,
-
Activity
of poets mind
-
1]
steve jobs : I phone
-
2]
right brother’s airplane
Both things are apt for example of poetry . poetry is imagination of poet
in which he added something and harmonies it .
Poem is
Merely one of the forms of poet’s
expression
Poem is only imagination of post .
Ordinary poets can only wrote poems by their primary imagination ,
whereas extra ordinary poets can write poetry and there for they need secondary
imagination . and it is necessary in them .
‘The sudden
charm , which accident 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.’
These are the poetry of nature.
IN defence
of wordsworth’s poetic creed :
Coleridge ,
even though he did not agree with words worth’s views on poetic diction , vindicated
his poetic creed in chapter : 14 of biographic literary . Coleridge writes in
defence to the violent assailant to the , “ language of real life “ adopted by
words worth in the lyrical ballads .
There had
been strong criticism against word sworth’s view expressed in preface also .
Coleridge
write in his defence : had mr. wordsworth’s poems been the silly and the
childish things , which they were a long time describe as being , had they been
really distinguished from the
composition of other poets merely by manners and language.
CONCLUSION :
We may say in own words , he endeavored to
establish the principle of writing rather than to furnish runes about how to
pass judgement on what had been written by others .
Thus , Coleridge is the first English critic
who based his literary criticism on philosophical principles . while critics
before him had been content to turn a poem inside out and to discourse on its ,
merits and demerits , Coleridge busied himself with the basic question of “ how
it came to be there at all . “ he was
more interested in the creative process that made it .
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