How Do Reason and Imagination Shape Poetry?
“Here, the lofty and highly much praised artistic achievement of Attic tragedy and the dramatic dithyramb presents itself before our eyes, as the common goal of both artistic drives, whose secret marriage partnership, after a long antecedent struggle, celebrated itself with such a child, simultaneously Antigone and Cassandra.” (Friedrich Nietzsche on the relationship between the Apollnian and Dionysian) How do both reason and imagination shape poetry?
Reason and Imagination are two concepts that seem opposed to one another. Reason is the ability of humans to make sense of things, and is grounded in reality while Imagination is a more abstract concept that is variously described as recreating experiences without them physically occurring, as well as bringing an artistic touch to these experiences. There is a general agreement that while Reason and Imagination work best in conjunction with one another, Imagination is a stronger driving force for Poetry since it is a more abstract art form. Those who argue for Poetry driven by Reason also seem to believe it should be done away with altogether.
The distinction between Reason and Imagination and the effect both have on shaping Poetry is perhaps best summarized by Percy Shelley who theorized that “Reason is the enumeration of quantities already known; Imagination is the perception of the value of those quantities”. Shelley believes that “Reason is to Imagination as the instrument to the agent, as the body to the spirit, as the shadow to the substance”. Therefore, Reason is already present, but it is the job of the poet and their Imagination to breathe life into it. Though Shelley believes that Poetry “may be defined to be ‘the expression of the Imagination’” it is also clear he believes finer Poetry uses the two in conjunction. Yet when Reason takes precedence over Imagination, the result is generally seen as more damaging to the art form. Shelley goes on to relate that “It is admitted that the exercise of the
Reason and Imagination are two concepts that seem opposed to one another. Reason is the ability of humans to make sense of things, and is grounded in reality while Imagination is a more abstract concept that is variously described as recreating experiences without them physically occurring, as well as bringing an artistic touch to these experiences. There is a general agreement that while Reason and Imagination work best in conjunction with one another, Imagination is a stronger driving force for Poetry since it is a more abstract art form. Those who argue for Poetry driven by Reason also seem to believe it should be done away with altogether.
The distinction between Reason and Imagination and the effect both have on shaping Poetry is perhaps best summarized by Percy Shelley who theorized that “Reason is the enumeration of quantities already known; Imagination is the perception of the value of those quantities”. Shelley believes that “Reason is to Imagination as the instrument to the agent, as the body to the spirit, as the shadow to the substance”. Therefore, Reason is already present, but it is the job of the poet and their Imagination to breathe life into it. Though Shelley believes that Poetry “may be defined to be ‘the expression of the Imagination’” it is also clear he believes finer Poetry uses the two in conjunction. Yet when Reason takes precedence over Imagination, the result is generally seen as more damaging to the art form. Shelley goes on to relate that “It is admitted that the exercise of the
Bibliography: Aristotle, Poetics trans./ed. Malcolm Heath (Penguin Classics,1996) Burke, Edmund A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin or our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful (Oxford World’s Classics, 1998) Nietzsche, Friedrich The Birth of Tragedy trans. Douglas Smith (Oxford World’s Classics, 2008) Plato, The Republic trans [ 7 ]. Friederich Nietzsche, The Birth of Tragedy (Oxford World’s Classics, 2008) p.19 [ 8 ] [ 13 ]. Edmund Burke, A Philosophical Enquiry (Oxford World’s Classics, 1998) p.54 [ 14 ] [ 21 ]. Aristotle, Poetics trans./ed. Malcolm Heath (Penguin Classics,1996) p.12 [ 22 ] [ 25 ]. Plato, The Republic, trans. Tom Griffith/ed. G.R.F. Ferrari (Cambridge University Press, 2011) p.313