Concepts of Wordsworth Applied to Coleridge
Concepts of Wordsworth Applied to Coleridge Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Wordsworth were two very dominant Romantic Era poets. They published some of their writings together, and were very influenced by each other in their writing style. We see this in Coleridge’s contribution to Wordsworth, Biographia Literaria. In Biographia Literaria, Coleridge gives praise to Wordsworth’s brilliance in his writings and makes it known how much he looked up to Wordsworth. Coleridge goes into detail describing the concepts Wordsworth used in his works and how they made his poetry rise above others of their time. Some of these concepts are “the fine balance of truth in observing with the imaginative faculty in modifying the objects observed”, “the union of deep feeling with profound thought”, and “to carry on the feelings of childhood into the powers of manhood” (Biographia Literaria 617). These ideas are some of the things that made an impression on his feelings and, eventually, his own judgment. When we read the works of Coleridge and Wordsworth, we see how similar their style of writing is. This is largely contributed to the fact that Coleridge was very influenced by Wordsworth. Although these concepts come from Wordsworth, Coleridge used them in his own way to create a poem that reflects the way he grew up, not the way of most other Romantic Era poets. In the poem “Frost at Midnight”, Wordsworth’s concepts are evident, but with Coleridge’s own touch. Wordsworth’s concept “the fine balance of truth in observing with the imaginative faculty in modifying the objects observed” (Biographia Literaria 617) is found in the poem “Frost at Midnight”. In this poem, Coleridge combines his imagination with the reality that he is actually living in. When the poem is first read, it is clear that the speaker is Coleridge and he is talking about his son, the reality. When he starts reminiscing about his childhood and the life his son will have, we see the imagination part of this
Cited: Biographia Literaria. The Longman Anthology Fourth Edition 2A. Damrosch, David and Dettmar, Kevin J.H., eds. New York: Longman/Pearson, 2010. 617-618. Print. “Frost at Midnight”. The Longman Anthology Fourth Edition 2A. Damrosch, David and Dettmar, Kevin J.H., eds. New York: Longman/Pearson, 2010. 563-564. Print.