S. T. Coleridge as a Romantic Poet II Coleridge as a Supernatural Poet II Coleridge as a Dream Poet

 

S. T. Coleridge as a Romantic Poet

Coleridge: A Poet of Supernaturalism

INTRODUCTION:  

Samuel Tailor Coleridge (1772-1834) has been considered as the most outstanding founder of Neo-Romanticism or Romantic Revival (1798-1830). He has been hailed as “the most complete representative” of English romantic poetry of the earl 19^th century. Critics and scholars have entitled him as “the poet of supernatural”.

MAJOR POETICAL WORKS OF COLERIDGE:   

Though Coleridge left behind only a few poems, the world is highly indebted to him for his great contribution to romantic poetry. His main works are:

1.  The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

2.  Christabel

3.  Kubla Khan

4.  Ode to Dejection

5.  Three Graves

6.  Frost at Midnight

MEANING OF ROMANTICISM:

Romanticism does not mean only love between man and woman. It has a broader meaning. "Romantic" means everything which excites us, appeals our emotions and thrills us.

 

1.  Walter Pater avers, "Romanticism is the addition of strangeness to beauty."

2.  But the most convincing definition of Romanticism is given by an eminent critic. He writes, "One poet is romantic because he falls in love; another romantic because he sees a ghost; another romantic because he hears a cuckoo; another Romantic because he is reconciled to the church."

3.  John Keats rightly comments, "If poetry comes not as naturally as the leaves to a tree, it had better not come at all."

In this way, we can gather from all above definitions that Romanticism involves imagination, strange beauty, supernatural elements, love for nature, love for past, lyricism etc. All these qualities are found in the poetry of Coleridge.

ELEMENT OF MYSTERY:

Taylor rightly remarked:

“The very center of Coleridge’s art lies in his faculty of evoking the mystery of things.”

He has created an atmosphere of mystery in ‘The Ancient mariner’ and Cristabel’. Even some natural scenes such as the sunrise, the twinkling stars, the blowing of winds on the sea, the rise of the moon get a mysterious treatment in the hands of Coleridge. His poetry is full of mystery, marvel and wonder. Take this example:

“What if you slept
And what if
In your sleep
You dreamed
And what if
In your dream
You went to heaven
And there plucked a strange and beautiful flower
And what if
When you awoke
You had that flower in you hand
Ah, what then?”
― Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Complete Poems

POWER OF IMAGINATION:

It is by his power of imagination that Coleridge produces a “willing suspension of disbelief”. In his poetry his imagination takes us to far off and distant unknown places. He creates pleasing imaginative pictures of the sea, the ship, the Albatross, the medieval castles and wraps the readers in the atmosphere of wonder.

“Day after day, day after day,
We stuck, nor breath nor motion;
As idle as a painted ship
Upon a painted ocean.”
― Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

SUPERNATURALISM:

Coleridge has been rightly hailed as the poet of supernaturalism. Instead of dealing with the stories of ghosts and devils in terrific manner, he gives a new psychological turn to the supernatural elements in his poetry. His supernaturalism is suggestive, psychological and refined; not crude, terrific and sensational. He has given air of realism to the supernatural elements in all his three poems – ‘Christabel’, ‘Kubla Lhan’ and ‘ROAM’. In ‘Christabel’, an evil spirit haunts the body of Geraldine and tries to ruin the happiness of innocent Christabel. In ‘ROAM’ too, we move in a world of dreams. This is done successfully by Coleridge with his keen sense of supernaturalism.

MEDIEVALISM:

Coleridge finds in the Middle Ages the suitable atmosphere and subject for his poetic treatment. ‘The Ancient Mariner’ is wrapped up in the glamour of the scenes of Middle Ages. In ‘Christabel’, we see the ancient castles, the feudal lord, ancient superstitions etc.

HUMANITARIANISM: 

Coleridge, like Wordsworth is marked with a note of humanitarianism F. R. Lucas observed:

“But is ‘Ancient Mariner’, that invaluable example of egotistic (self praise)? Is it not, on the contrary, a sermon against egotism?”

Indeed, ‘Ancient mariner’ is full of the values of charity and humanity. It is one the most truly moral poems of English literature. His spirit of humanity is also expressed in his other poems – ‘Ode to France’ and ‘Reflections’ where he leaves his village and goes to the urban area to serve and provide relief to the victims of French Revolution.

MUSIC AND MELODY:

Coleridge is one of the most melodious of English poets. H. D. Trail rightly avers:

“His melody never fails… Coleridge is always a singer as Wordsworth is not and Byron almost never.”

 His genius as a poet of music is shown at its best in ‘Kubla Khan’, ‘The Sigh’, ‘Youth and Age’ etc. ‘The Ancient Mariner’ contains a series of beautiful sound patterns which lull the reader and produce hypnotic effect. Take this example:

 “Water, water, everywhere,

And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, everywhere,
Nor any drop to drink.”
― Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

 TREATMENT OF NATURE:

 Coleridge is also a great poet of nature and faith in divine power. Like Wordsworth, he is a pantheist (one who believes in God). In his early poems, we notice the presence of divine for of nature. In his ‘Ode to Dejection’, he presents Nature as the mother giver. Mark these lines:

 “O Lady! We receive but what we give

And in our life alone does nature live

Ours is her wedding garment, ours her shroud.”

CONCLUSION:

 A. C. Swinburne opines:

“As a poet, his place is undisputable: it is high among the highest of all time … for height and perfection of imaginative quality, he is the greatest of lyric poets. This was his special power and this is his special praise.”

 Click to watch a video on Wordsworth.