Thinking Activity

Thinking Activity

(Wordsworth & Coleridge)

Hello Friends,

Before discussing about wordsworth & Coleridge's views on poem, first of all let's have a look on "What is poem?". Poem is a a piece of writing arranged in short lines. Poems try to express thoughts and feelings with the help of sound and rhythm. Each time different poets and critics have tried to define poetry.  Different opinions exist in this regard. In general, poetry is an ear art.  But over time this concept has not been narrowed down to this idea, but the broad meaning has been given to this definition.

This blog is response to Thinking Activity assigned by Dr.Dilip Barad Sir. Click Here & also click here to visit the assigned task:

(1)Write a brief note on the views of Wordsworth & Coleridge on  poem.

Different critics and poet have tried to define poem and poetry. Now, let's discuss about Wordsworth's views on poem:

🔶Wordsworth's views on poem:

According to Wordsworth, 

"Poetry is spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings recollected in tranquility."

His views of poetic diction can be summed up as: "There neither is nor can be any essential difference between the language of prose and metrical composition."

🔶S.T.Coleridge's views on poem:

According to Coleridge,

Poetry is the product of imagination working on the objects of life and nature. It is an activity of imagination, idealizing the real and realising the ideal.

If we look at the question that,

“Would then the mere super addition of meter, with or without rhyme, entitle these to the name of poems?” To this Coleridge replies that if meter is super added the other parts of the composition also must harmonies with it. In order to deserve the name poem each part of the composition, including meter, rhyme, diction and theme must harmonies with the wholeness of the composition.

Wordsworth and Coleridge's friendship began to slowly deteriorate; beginning with criticisms of each other’s poetry, then growing into conflicting views on creativity and intellect, and finally culminating in a “radical difference” of “theoretical opinions” concerning poetry.

“Never again would the two poets have the sort of compatibility which allowed for major differences of opinion, without creating unease”

Wordsworth and Coleridge's views on poem
	Wordsworth	S.T.Coleridge
	Romanticist	Romanticist
Central idea	sees nature and beautiful and something that induces nostalgia	creates dark imagery and the idea of disruption through his use of the Sublime element.
Definition of poetry	"Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings; it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility."	Poetry is the product of imagination working on the objects of life and nature. It is an activity of imagination, idealizing the real and realising the ideal.
	breath and finer spirit of all knowledge,	It is an activity of imagination, idealizing the real and realising the ideal.
Views about poem/poetry	Wordsworth gives Complex and difficult and confusing definition for poetry that spontaneous overflow & recollected in tranquility	Coleridge's view is simpler than Wordsworth's, because he regards meter as an element that "tends to increase the vivacity and susceptibility both of the general feelings and of the attention."
Expression in the poem	Poem is the impassioned expression that is in the countenance of all science.	poem is a heart of reality work that poetry convey the feeling by rhyme and that took place as golden shield.
Major focus	a poet of spiritual and epistemological speculation	Coleridge deal with distinction between fancy and imagination Secondary Imagination Primary Imagination The secondary imagination is more active, more a result of volition, more conscious and more voluntary than the primary one. The primary imagination is living power and prime agent of all human perception.
Poetic diction & poem v/s poetry	Poetic diction means style of writing which is used by poet in poetry like the communication style, frame of reference, and use of tropical language-normally metaphors.	Coleridge ‘s views on poem and poetry. Poem Poetry a merely one of the form of expression As colours are to the art of painting, words are to the art of writing poetry. wider than poem, activity of poet's mind
About	A poet concerned with the human relationship to nature and a fierce advocate of using the vocabulary and speech patterns of common people in poetry.	his poems are powered exclusively by imaginative flights, wherein the Speaker temporarily abandons his immediate surroundings, exchanging them for an entirely new and completely fabricated experience.
Theme	Instead of focusing more on democratic themes he used to write upon the lives of ordinary people, farmers, paupers and the rural poor.	The interaction between man and nature is a major theme for Coleridge.
Flow of poem	It cannot be made to flow through artificially	Coleridge believed that a strong, active imagination could become a vehicle for transcending unpleasant circumstances.
Subject matter	Object, Humble and rustic life	artificially The Interplay of Philosophy, Piety, and Poetry
Function of poetry	Instrument for the propagation of moral thought	inaccessible clarity of vision,
Major concern	Deep philosophical truths about life and religion	Coleridge is often described as a “poet of the imagination.” What does this appellation mean is his major concern

(2)Analyze Two poems with reference to Wordsworth and Coleridge's view.

With the reference of Wordsworth	With the reference of Coleridge
ક્યાં હવે ભમતી દિશાઓ શોધશે અજવાસને, સાંજની ઝાંખી હવાઓ પી ગઈ આકાશને. શૂન્યતાએ ઓલવી નાખ્યા અવજોના દિવા, સુઈ રહ્યા છે ઘાસના મેદાન ઓઢી ઘાસને. સ્વપ્નની માફક સરી ગઈ રેશમી ભીની લીલાશ, એ સ્મરણ ચડતા પીળી ખાલી ચડે છે વાંસને. ખાલી વસ્યા દ્વાર ખોલીને પ્રવેશે અંધકાર, ને જતા નીરખી રહું ઠરતા દીવાના શ્વાસને. છે વિચારોમા એ સમણું પણ ભીંજવે સાંજને, પાણીની સાથે નથી સંબંધ કંઈ ભીનાશને. -રમેશ પારેખ	(પ્રકૃતિકાવ્ય નહીં લખી શકવા બાબત એક ખેતમજૂરી કરતા કવિની ઉક્તિ) વહેલી પરોઢે સૂર્યએ પોતાનો ચૂલો સળગાવ્યો ત્યારે અમે અમારા ટાઢાબોળ ચૂલાની બાજુમાં બેઠા હતા જાગતાં… એવું નથી કે મને સ્પર્શતું નથી આ મૃદુ ઝાકળ ગમે છે, પણ પરોઢના ગર્ભમાં પાંગરેલું આ ઓસ સુંવાળા ઘાસ પર બેસીને તેની મહાન ગાથા સંભળાવે તે પહેલાં મારી માના હાથમાં ઊપસી આવેલા ફોલ્લા એની કથા કહેવા માંડે છે ઝાકળ પોતાને મોતી સિદ્ધ કરે તે પહેલાં પગમાં પડેલા ઢીમડાં પોતાને કોહિનૂર સાબિત કરી ચૂક્યા હોય છે ‘પરોઢે કમલ સરોવરે અંગ ઝબોળાય’ની કલ્પનાને ટાણે તો અમે ધૂળમાટીથી રગદોળાઈને થઈ ગયા હોઈએ છીએ પરસેવે રેબઝેબ… વંદન! વરસતા વરસાદની દોમદોમ સાહ્યબીને બે હાથે વંદન! પણ મને તો ધોધમાર વરસાદમાં માથું ઢાંકતા છાપરાની કલ્પના વધારે વહાલી લાગે છે મને યાદ છે, એક દી કોલસાની ભઠ્ઠીમાં કામ કરતાં મા દાઝી ગયેલી એક મોટા અર્ધ વર્તુળાકાર ફરફોલા સાથે ઊપસી આવેલા અનેક ફોલ્લા હાથ પર મને તેમાં દાઝી ગયેલો ચંદ્ર ને સેંકડો બુઝાતા સિતારા દેખાયેલા બસ આટલું નાનું (પ્રકૃતિ?) કાવ્ય રચાયું હતું ચિત્તમાં…. મારું કલ્પનાશીલ મો જોઈ માએ પૂછેલું ‘ધરાએલો લાગે છે, કંઈ ખાઈને આવ્યો કે શું? હું કશું બોલ્યો નહીં, કયા મોઢે કહેવું કે ભરપેટ ગાળો ખાધી છે શેઠની… તમે જ્યારે ‘સીમ દોમદોમ તડકામાં નહાય’નું અદ્ભુત કલ્પનાચિત્ર રજૂ કરો છો, ત્યારે મારી હોજરીમાં તપતું હોય છે એક ગીતનું મુખડું, કે- ‘આખું આકાશ એક ધગધગતો ચૂલો ને સૂરજ એક શેકાતી રોટલી…’ તમે કહો છો, ‘સમી સાંજે સૂરજ કેવા અદ્ભુત રંગો પૂરે છે ક્ષિતિજ પર, નહી?’ આઈ એગ્રી, લાખલાખ સલામ એના કેસરિયાપણાને! કિરણોની ફરતી પીંછીને! પણ અમારા જીવનમાંથી બુઝાઈ ગયેલો સૂર્ય મને ક્ષિતિજના રંગોની કલ્પના નથી કરવા દેતો… મને તો તેમાં મારી માના સેંથીના આકાશમાંથી આથમી ગયેલા સૂર્યને કારણે ભૂંસાયેલા સિંદૂરના લાલપીળા ડાઘા દેખાય છે, જેને હું કોઈ જ પોતાથી સાફ નથી કરી શકતો… પ્રકૃતિએ સર્જેલી મસમોટી ઊંડી ખીણ કરતાં મને પેટનો ખાડો વધારે ઊંડો લાગે છે. પ્લીઝ! એવું ન સમજતા કે હું પ્રકૃતિનો ચાહક નથી પણ હાલ પૂરતું હું તેનું કાવ્ય સર્જી શકું તેમ નથી, સોરી! – અનિલ ચાવડા
Analysis: According to Wordsworth, poem means eating all of your food together at the time just as a cow and then tossing it comfortably.  Not only is the word used more general in everyday life, it has been suggested to be careful in meter and rhymes. Here, poet Shri Ramesh Parekh has experimented with the elements of nature, not only the poem was created using metaphors such as dream, gate, summon, evening and damp water. Here, poet used everyday speech of ordinary individuals. With the help of metaphors such as grass, emptiness, road, lamp, breath and such, he has tried to keep the new poetic elements in front of the readers. So, in this very recent poem we can find the elements of a poem or such distinct quality which makes this poem more favourable and unique.	Analysis: Not all poems can be called poem(poetry) only by the best use of words or or rhymes and other metaphors.  But Coleridge says to wordsworth it just like a nursery rhymes. Poetry means any new creation or thing that comes out from imagination, it can be called true poetry.  It can be in prose, verse or in lyrics. In this context, one is also a poet's portrait of a poet, and one of the new discoveries of a scientist is also considered as poetry.  Here, the poet Shri Anil Chavda has highlighted the discrimination of caste, class and other poor-rich people by running a farmer's pain and suffering. Not only this, nature has also shown love and poetry has been created by giving nice quotes in the blind without using heavy rhymes or metaphors.  The abscesses in the owner's spine, mind, hands, and feet make a better impression than ordinary poetry.  So, here we can find elements of poetry defined by S.T.Coleridge.