How Coleridge, Shelley and Wordsworth Carried Out Their Aesthetic Principles
How Coleridge, Shelley and Wordsworth
Carried Out Their Aesthetic Principles
"Poetry," according to the definition of Percy Bysshe Shelley, "is the expression of the imagination (696)." Samuel Taylor Coleridge would agree with this concise definition. On the contrary, William Wordsworth said that, "no words which imagination can suggest, will be compared with those which are the emanations of reality and truth (336)." Wordsworth also differed from Shelley and Coleridge in his approach to writing poetry. He only wrote after he, "had thought long and deeply (333)." Conversely, Coleridge and Shelley wrote some of their best poems with seemingly little or no deliberation, for examples "Kubla
Khan" and "The Mask of Anarchy." The basic questions of what the imagination is, and how to tap it, lie at the heart of the three poet's aesthetic principles.
"Imagination," according to Coleridge, "is the living power and prime agent of all human perception. ... It is essentially vital, even as all objects are essentially dead. (530)." This interpretation of the word, imagination, explains the seeming contradiction between the aesthetic principles of Wordsworth and
Coleridge. According to Wordsworth, the poet should write from "emanations of reality and truth." Coleridge would not disagree with this statement because, according to his interpretation, it is only through imagination that these emanations of reality are released. Without imagination, reality and truth would consist only of dead and otherwise meaningless objects. Wordsworth dismisses imagination as a source for poetry because he believes that truth coexists only with reality. Nevertheless, all can agree that wherever truth is to be found, it is of
no use to a poet unless it can be perceived. Coleridge would say that since imagination is the agent of human perception, then truth can only be perceived through imagination. The difference between Coleridge and Wordsworth's understanding of the
Carried Out Their Aesthetic Principles
"Poetry," according to the definition of Percy Bysshe Shelley, "is the expression of the imagination (696)." Samuel Taylor Coleridge would agree with this concise definition. On the contrary, William Wordsworth said that, "no words which imagination can suggest, will be compared with those which are the emanations of reality and truth (336)." Wordsworth also differed from Shelley and Coleridge in his approach to writing poetry. He only wrote after he, "had thought long and deeply (333)." Conversely, Coleridge and Shelley wrote some of their best poems with seemingly little or no deliberation, for examples "Kubla
Khan" and "The Mask of Anarchy." The basic questions of what the imagination is, and how to tap it, lie at the heart of the three poet's aesthetic principles.
"Imagination," according to Coleridge, "is the living power and prime agent of all human perception. ... It is essentially vital, even as all objects are essentially dead. (530)." This interpretation of the word, imagination, explains the seeming contradiction between the aesthetic principles of Wordsworth and
Coleridge. According to Wordsworth, the poet should write from "emanations of reality and truth." Coleridge would not disagree with this statement because, according to his interpretation, it is only through imagination that these emanations of reality are released. Without imagination, reality and truth would consist only of dead and otherwise meaningless objects. Wordsworth dismisses imagination as a source for poetry because he believes that truth coexists only with reality. Nevertheless, all can agree that wherever truth is to be found, it is of
no use to a poet unless it can be perceived. Coleridge would say that since imagination is the agent of human perception, then truth can only be perceived through imagination. The difference between Coleridge and Wordsworth's understanding of the