I

NTRODUCTI
ONTO'
BIOGRAPHI
ALI
TERARI
A

'Biogr
aphiaLiterari
a'wast heresultofCol eridge'ssixmont hshar dwor k.I
twascompl etedin
1815andpubl ishedinJuly1817.Thef i
rstedi t
ionof'LyricalBallads'wasbroughtouti n1798.It
contai
nedpoemsbot hbyCol eridgeandWor dswor t
h.Col er
idgeper suadedWor dswor t
ht owri
te
aPr ef
ace.Itssecondedi t
ionwi thWor dswor th'sPrefacewaspubl i
shedin1800.The' Preface'
contai
nedWor dsworth'st
heor yofpoet r
y .Atf i
rstColeri
dget houghtofwr i
ti
ngt hePr eface
himself.Buthepassedonhi snot estoWor dswor th.Astimepassedon, Coler
idgebegant o
dif
ferfrom Wor dsworth'
stheor yofpoeticdi cti
on.Amaj orpar tof'Biogr
aphiaLit er
aria'i
san
att
ackonWor dswor t
h'stheoryofpoet icdiction.

ByJul y1815hehadwr ittenthefir

stpar tof(Chapt ers1t o13)t he'Biogr aphia',cont ained
met aphy sicalenqui r
yanddi scussions.Thenhest artedwr i
ti
ngaPr efacet oit.Itgr ewt oabook
andbecamet hesecondpar t(Chapters14t o22) ,containedWor dswor th'stheor iesoft he
l
anguageandt het hemeofpoet r
y.Atfirst,
itwascal l
ed'Aut obiographi aLi t
eraria'.Wheni twas
pri
nt ed, i
tdidnotcont ainenoughmat terforthesecondv ol
ume.SoCol eri
dger ev isedChapt er
XXIIandaddedhi sappr eciati
onofWor dswor t
h'spoet ry.Thenhegav eaconcl usi on.InJuly
1817t hetwov olumesappear ed.Theext r
aordinarydel ayandt henumberofmi spr i
ntsdamped
Coler i
dge'sent husiasm.Theadv ersecriti
cism ofthebooksandt hecol dr eceptionwasduet o
themi xtur
eofphi l
osophy ,aestheti
csandaut obiogr aphy .Thebooki snei t
herCol eridge's
autobi ographynorasy stemat icaccountofhi sphilosophi calandl i
teraryideas.I nspi teofit
, t
he
bookwasanov elachiev ementi nit
sownway .Throught hisbookheest abli
shedanewuni t
y
betweenphi l
osophyandl it
eratur
e.Hebasedcr it
icism onhumanphi l
osophyandf ramed
pri
nci plesf orthejudgmentofpoet ry.

ColeridgeandWor dsworthwerenei ghbours.Theydiscussedaboutthereproducti

onofobj ects
suppliedbyt heexternalworldbytheaccur ateobservati
onofthepoet.Theydiscussedhowt he
externalobjectsaretransf
ormedbyt hepoet i
cpowerofi maginati
on.I
twasdeci dedthat
Coleridgewoul dcomposepoemsi nwhi cht heinci
dentsandagent sweretobe,inpart,
supernatural andtheywouldbegi venemot ionsandbehav iour
speculi
artorealhumanbei ngs.
Ont hecont rary,
Wor dswort
hwoul dcomposepoemsi nwhichtheeventsandcharacterswoul d
besuppl i
edbyev eryvil
l
age.Thesef amili
arobjectswer etr
ansfor
medi ntosomethingnovel,
fr
eshandst rangebyt hecolouri
ngofi magination.
 BI
OGRAPHI
ALI
TERARI
A

CHAPTERXI
V

Thepl anofthe" Lyri

cal Ballads"wasor iginatedi nthisway .AccordinglyColeridgecomposed
"TheAnci entMar i
ner" ,
"TheDar kLady ",and" Chr i
stabel ".Int hesepoemst hesuper nat ur alwas
treatedsubt elyandef f
ectively.Wor dswor t hwaswor kingwi t
hindustryandr apidityofspeed.So
thepoemsofCol eri
dgeappearoutofpl acei nt hecollect ion.Wor dswor thwr otepoemsdeal ing
wi thrusticli
feandchar acters.Thef irstedi ti
onof" Lyrical Ball
ads"waspubl i
shedwi thabr ief
'
Adv erti
sement '
.Itpointedoutt hatthepoemsr epresent ingor dinar
yincident sandchar actersin
asi mpl e,unadornedandcol l
oquial l
anguage.I n1800, thesecondedi ti
onof' Lyri
cal Bal lads'in
twov olumeswi tha' Preface' wasbr oughtout .Inthe' Pref ace' i
twasasser t
edt hatt hel anguage
spokenbypeasant sandr usticshasbeenused.Thi sst i
r r
edupaheat edcont roversy .Butt he
maj orityofthepoemsar eat tr
active.Inspi t
eofal lcri
ticism, theyhavest eadilygrowni n
popul arit
ywi t
hal l
.Ev enthecr iti
cswer ei mpressedbyt hegeni usofthepoet .Ther eal mer itsof
thepoemsandt heav ersionscr eatedbyt hecr iti
cskeptt hepoemsal iv
e.Col eri
dgehi msel fdid
notagr eewithmanypar t
soft he'Preface' .Hepoi ntedoutt hattheywer ewr onginpr inciple.The
nameofCol eri
dgehasal sobeenment ionedbyt hecr it
icsal ongwithWor dswor t
hast heco-
wr it
eroft he'Preface'.Sohehast odecl arei nwhi chpar t soft he'Preface'heagr eedi nwhi ch
par tshedoesnot .Tof acili
tateanunder standingofhi sv iewshemustexpl ainhisv iewsf ir
stof
a' poem' andnextof' poetry'.

Apoem contai
nssameel ement
sasinprose.Thedi
ffer
encebetweenthem i
sint
hediffer
ent
combinat
ionofthoseel
ements.Apoem maydiff
erfr
om aproseintheuseofmetreorrhyme.
Theuseofmet r
eisanaidtomemor y
.Therecurr
enceofsoundsisasourceofpl
easure.

Theconv ey anceoft ruthi

si mportanti
nsci enti
fi
candhi storicalcomposi t
ions.Thegi vi
ngof
pleasureisonl ysecondar y.I
ncer t
ainvari
etiesofprosesuchasnov el
sandr omances
communi cati
onofpl easure'istheimmedi ateobject.Cant hemer eaddit
ionofmet retosuch
prosechanget hem intopoems?Col er
idger epl
iesthatifmet reisaddedt oot hercomposi ti
ons,
theyalsohar moni sewi t
hitanddeser vesthenameofapoem.Ther efore'apoem maybe
definedasacl assofcomposi ti
on,whichisopposedt owor ksofsci enceinpr oposingforit
s
i
mmedi ateobject'pleasure',
not'tr
uth'
.Thepoem i sanor ganicwhol einwhicht hevari
ousparts
wor ktogethert oprovidethepleasurewhichi speculiartopoet ry.Phil
osophical cri
ti
csdenythe
nameofapoem t osuchmet r
icalcompositionswher esinglelinesar esostri
ki ngthattheycan
bedet achedf rom thewhol eandenj oy
edsepar atel
y .

Todi
sti
ngui
shpoet
ryf
rom apoem,
Col
eri
dgepoi
ntsoutt
hatpoet
rymaybef
oundi
nwor
ks
whichempl oytomet ri
call
anguage.Thepr oseofPl atoorofJer emyTay l
ororthepr ophet
ic
booksintheBi blear ethebestill
ustrati
onsofsuchpoet ry.Todefi
nepoet r
y,considerthenatur
e
andfunctionsoft hepoet ,
itscreator.Tocreate,
thepoetcal l
sfort
hallthepower softhesoul
i
ntoactivi
ty,eachi nproporti
ont oitswor t
handdi gnity.Thenbyv i
rt
ueofhi simaginati
onhe
harmonizesandbl endstogetherthev ari
ouselement sanddi ff
usesat oneandspi ri
tofunit
y
overthewhol e.Thiscreati
vepowermani f
estsclearlyi
nt hereconci
li
ationofoppositequali
ti
es
suchas

a)samenesswi
thdi
ff
erence

b)t
hegener
alwi
tht
heconcr
ete

c)t
hei
deawi
tht
hei
mage

d)t
hei
ndi
vi
dual
wit
hther
epr
esent
ati
ve

e)novelt
yandf
reshnesswi
thol
d,f
ami
l
iarobj
ect
sf)unusual
emot
ional
exci
tementwi
thst
ri
ct
orderanddi
sci
pli
ne

f
)unusual
emot
ional
exci
tementwi
thst
ri
ctor
deranddi
sci
pli
ne

g)st
rongandv
ehementpassi
onwi
thv
igi
l
antj
udgmentandunf
laggi
ngsel
f-
possessi
on.

Thisemphati
cpowerblendsthenatural
andtheart
ifi
cial
,themannerandmatt
er.I
nshort,i
thas
all
theat
tri
butesofthesoul
.Coleri
dgeconcl
udesthatgoodsenseisthebodyofpoet
icgenius,
Fancyi
tseter
naldress,
motionitsl
ivi
ngpri
nci
pleandImagi nat
iont
hesoulwhi
chisdi
ffused
thr
oughthewhole.

BI
OGRAPHI
ALI
TERARI
A

CHAPTERXVI
I

I
nt hischapterCol er
idgeexami nesWor dswort
h'stheoriesofpoeti
cdict
ion.Wor dswort
h
deser v
esourpr ai
seforhisreforminourpoet i
cdiction.Hehasdescri
bedhowt hefigur
esand
met aphorswhi chwer eappropriat
elyusedbytheor igi
nalpoetsweredegenerated.Hiseff
ortsto
i
mpr ovet
het hemeanddi ct
ionwer enotineff
ectual.Hisimpressi
onsofhisprincipl
esareplai
nly
vi
sibleinhisv erses.

Wordswort
h'stheoryst
atesthat't
heproperdi
ctionf
orpoet
ryconsist
sinthelanguageofthe
meninreall
ifeandthei
rnaturalconv
ersati
onunderthei
nfl
uenceofthei
rnaturalf
eeli
ngs'
.
Col
eri
dgeobjectsthist
heory.Hisobj
ecti
onis,1.Thi
srul
eisappl
icabl
eonlytocertai
nclassesof
poet
ry.

2.Iti
snotappl
i
ableev
ent
othosecl
asses,
excepti
nsuchasenseashasnev
erbeendeni
edor
doubt
edbyanyone.

3.Bei
ngt
hisr
ulei
susel
ess,
itneednotbepr
act
ised.

I
nhi
s'Pref
acetotheLyr
ical
Ball
ads'
Wor dswort
hexplai
nswhyhehaschosent
hel
owandr
ust
ic
l
i
feasthethemeofhispoems.I
nthatcondit
ionofl
i
fe,

1.t
hepassi
onsoft
hehear
tfi
ndabet
tersoi
li
nwhi
cht
heycanat
tai
nmat
uri
ty.

2.Ourel
ement
aryf
eel
i
ngsco-
exi
sti
nast
ateofsi
mpl
i
cit
yandcanbecommuni
cat
edf
orci
bly
.

3.Themannersofr ur
all
i
fegermi
natefr
om theseel
ement
aryf
eel
i
ngsandf
rom t
hechar
act
ers
ofrur
aloccupat
ions,whi
charemoredurabl
e.

4.I
nthatcondi
ti
ont
hepassi
onsofmenar
eincor
por
atedwi
thnat
ure.

Accor dingtoCol eridgethemosti nt

eresti
ngpoemsofWor dswor thar e' Brother',
'Michael ','
Rut h',
'
theMadMot her'etc.
,Theper sonsintroducedint hesepoemsar et akenf r
om lowandr usticl i
fe.
Thissent iment sandl anguagear enotnecessarilyconnect edwi tht heiroccupat i
onsandabode.
Theyspr i
ngf rom thegener alcauseswhi chwil
lpr oducei denti
cal feelingsi nev eryst ateofl ife
whet herint ownori ncount ry
.Thei mpor t
antcausesar ea)spi ri
:ofi ndependencear isingf rom
economi ccompet encewhi chraisesamanabov eser vit
udey etnotabov ethesi mplicityofl ife.
b)reli
giouseducat i
onwhi chmakesamanf amil
iarwi t
h' t
heBi ble'andt he'hymnbook' .Col eridge
i
sconv incedt hathumansoul cannotf lour
ishandmat ureinr usti
cl ifeunl essitispr ov idedwi t
h
theseadv antages.Whenl i
feisdestit
uteofeducat ionandor i
ginal sensi bil
it
y,themi ndi ssur et o
shrinkandhar den, mant obecomesel f
ishandhar dhear ted.Undersuchci r
cumst ancest he
universeofNat urebecomesusel essasabeaut iful pi
cturetot hebl indandsweetmusi ct ot he

Coleri
dger eferstoAr i
stotl
e'sconceptionofpoetr
yasideal.Accor dingt oAri
stotletheindivi
dual
charactersinpoetryshoul dbegener alandtypi
cal
.Theirf
eel i
ngsshoul dbeoft hewhol eclass
towhi chtheybelong, i
rrespecti
veoft hei
roccupat
ionsorstatusi nli
f e.Wordswor th'
spoems
centreroundhumbl efigures.Theysucceedonlytothedegr eetheyconf ormtot hispri
ncipl
e.
Thechar actersinWor dswor th'
spoems' Brot
hers'
and'Michael '
areper sonsofaknownand
abidi
ngcl ass.Theirmanner sandsent i
mentsarecommont othecl ass.I nt
hepoems' HarryGill
'
,
and'Idiotboy'thefeeli
ngsar ethoseofhumannat ur
eingener al
.Themot her
'schar act
erin'I
diot
boy'isnotmuchr eal.Thepoem has.
1.Thepoethasnotexcl
udedt
hedi
sgust
ingor
dinar
yimages.

2.Theidi
ocyoft
heboyi
sev
enl
ybal
ancedbyt
hef
oll
yoft
hemot
herpr
esent
edasal
aughabl
e
cari
cat
ure.

I
nthepoem '
thor
n't
hepoetacknowl
edgest
hathehaspor
tray
edt
hechar
act
eroft
heper
son
whoiscr
edul
ousandtal
kati
ve.

I
napoem i ti
snotpossibl
etoimitateadullandgar r
uloust al
kerwi t
houtrepeat
ingtheef
fect
sof
dul
lness.Howev ert
hepartsofthepoem maygi v
euni versaldeli
ght.Butthepassages
appropri
atetothesupposednarratormarkanyunpl easantsinking.Therefor
eColeri
dgedoes
notacceptWor dswort
h'st
heoryaccor di
ngtowhi chhehassel ectedcharact
ersforhi
spoems.
WhenWor dsworthf
oll
owshistheor y,
hischaract
erpor tr
ay albecomesinferi
or.

Coleri
dgealsodisagr
eeswithWor dsworthwhathesaysaboutthelanguageofthecharact
ersof
hi
spoems.Wor dswort
hwr i
tesinhis'Pr
eface't
hel
anguageofthesemeni ssimpl eand
unelabor
atedbecauseoftheirr
anki nsociet
yandthenar
rowcircl
eoft hei
rint
ercourse.

Coler
idgerepl
ies1.t
helanguageoft herust
icwil
lnotdi
fferfr
om t
helanguageofanymanof
commonsense.2.Theexper ienceoftherusti
cisli
mit
edandt hefact
sathisdi
sposal
are
scanty.Sohecannotthi
nklogical
lyandconsecuti
vel
y.Theref
orehisl
anguagel
acksCaiti
n
unfi
tfornoetr
y

3.Wor
dswor
thst
atesthatfr
om theobj
ect
swi
thwhi
cht
her
ust
icscommuni
cat
eof
ten,
thebest
par
toft
hehumanlanguageisderi
ved.

Coleri
dgedoesnotagr eewi tht hisv i
ew.Hest atesthatrusti
cl i
feisnar r
ow.Ther ust
icis
acquaintedonlywi thaf ewt hings.Ther eforethewor dsder i
vedf r
om t hefewobj ectswithwhich
therusti
csar efami l
iarcannotbet hebestpar tofthelanguage.Thebestpar tofhuman
l
anguagei sderi
vedf rom ther ef l
ectionandi maginati
onoft hemi nd.Suchr eflecti
onand
i
magi nationhavenopl acewi thuneducat edmen.Ther efl
ectionispossi bl
eonl ywithproperl
y
educatedpeopl e.From t hei
rmout hs,ther usti
cspickupcur rentwor dsandphr ases.Themajor
rol
eofdi ffusi
onofwor dsf r
om hi gherlev eltolowerleveli
spl ayedbyt hepreacher .Thespeech
oftheunci vi
li
sedtribesisent irelyunf i
tf orexpressingmor alandr eli
gioustruths.Henceitis
wrongt osayt hatthebestpar tofl anguagei sderiv
edf rom theobj ect
sofnat urewi t
hwhi chthe
rusti
cscommuni cate
Col
eri
dgealsoobj
ect
stot
heambi
gui
tyi
ntheuseoft
hewor
d'r
eal
'i
nther
eal
languageofmen
byWordswort
h.

Ev
ery
man' sl
anguagev
ari
est
otheext
entofhi
sknowl
edgeandt
hedept
hofhi
sfeel
i
ngs.Ev
ery
man'
slanguagehas

1)i
tsi
ndi
vi
dual
char
act
eri
sti
c

2)t
hecommonpr
oper
ti
esoft
hecl
asst
owhi
chhebel
ongs

3)Wordsandphrasesofuniversaluse.Thelanguageoft
hehomeliestcomposit
ionof
Wordswort
h'spoemsdiff
ersfrom thelanguageofacommonpeasant .Theref
oreforthewor
d
'
real
'wemustsubstit
utethewor d'or
dinary
'.Numerousomissi
onsandchangesar eneededi
n
thel
anguageofrust
icsbefor
ei tcanbet ur
nedintothel
anguageofpoetry
.

Thel anguagespokenbyt herust

icsvari
esf rom onecount
rytoanother
.AsDant ehasstatedin
histreati
seon'Theil
lust
riti
ousVernacularthecommonl anguageoftherust
icsexist
st o
everywhereinpartsandnowher easawhol e.LaterWordsworthaddedthephrase'i
nast ateof
excitement'
.Itdoesnotimprovemat t
ers.Asacommonuncul ti
vatedmindoverpower edbya
strongpassioncanutterbrokenwordsorr epeatthesetsofwordsandphrasesknownt ohi m.