STAMFORD UNIVERSITY BANGLADESH
Assignment on: Coleridge’s criticism of Wordsworth poetic diction
Introduction
In 1798, Wordsworth and Coleridge joined together to publish the first edition of Lyrical Ballads, and mutually arose various theories which Wordsworth embodied in his “Preface to the Lyrical Ballads” and tried to put into practice in his poems. Coleridge claimed credit for these theories and said they were “half the child of his brain”. But later on, his views were changed; he no longer agreed with Wordsworth’s theories and so criticized them. Wordsworth was primarily a poet who had to become a critic by necessity. The new experiment which he had made in the Lyrical Ballads (1798) called forth a systematic defense of the theory upon which the poems were written. Wordsworth protested against the traditions and usages set up by the pseudo-classical school during the 18th century. His views about the language which was to be employed in poetry raised a storm of protest against him even by such a close friend as Coleridge. In his “Preface to the Lyrical Ballads”, Wordsworth made three important statements all of which have been criticized by Coleridge. Firstly, the proper subjects of poetry are incidents, situations and characters taken from low and rustic life as it sets up powerful emotions in the mind of the poet. In their condition of life the elementary passions and emotions find a clearer and freer expression, for they are not repressed by conventions, as is the case with more sophisticated people. They can be observed more clearly and expressed more accurately. The poet must deal with such simple subjects with "A certain coloring of imagination whereby ordinary things should be presented to the mind in an unusual way." Secondly, Wordsworth asserts that poetry ought to be written in the "language really spoken by men”, which would accentuate the emotive power of the works by giving them more authenticity. The poetic language of the eighteenth century was unreal, and its substance was far from being an interpretation of man. Wordsworth said that rustic life and language were the simplest and purest being elementary, in close touch with nature, and unspoiled by social vanity. Thirdly,Wordsworth denied that there should be such a thing as diction specific to poetry .To begin, poetic diction must be defined. Poetic diction refers to the style of writing used in poetry (the linguistic style, vocabulary, and use of figurative language - that is metaphors). He thought that artificial poetic diction used by many writers obscured the sentiment and feeling that ought to be the focus of poetry. Wordsworth thought the diction of prose and the diction of poetry should be the same.There is no essential difference between the words used in prose and in poetry composition. Words of prose and poetry are not clearly demarcated, so
that words which can be used in prose can find place in poetry and vice versa. “What Wordsworth means is that the words used in conversation, if they are properly selected, would provide the rough frame-work of the language of poetry. When the poet is truly inspired, his imagination will enable him to select from the language really used by men”. Actually, He wanted poetry to speak to all, that complete adherence to poetic diction needed to be dropped. Perhaps the best way to illustrate Wordsworth's point on the elimination of poetic diction;“There will also be found in these volumes little of what is usually called poetic diction; I have taken as much pains to avoid it as others ordinarily take to produce it;.” Though Wordsworth and Coleridge had been joint authors of the Lyrical Ballads, Coleridge differed from Wordsworth on some fundamental points. He wanted to clarify his own position. Seventeen years after the publication of the Preface, he took up Wordsworth's theory and analyzed it part by part in his “Biographia Literaria”. Coleridge wanted to correct Wordsworth's views about the language of poetry being "the real language of men in a state of vivid sensation" and also about the suitability of "the incidents of common life". He did not accept Wordsworth's theory that the ideal language of poetry is 'the natural conversation of men under the influence of natural feeling’. As to the falseness and artificiality of much of the neoclassical verse, Coleridge was incomplete agreement with Wordsworth. He also said that only on the ground of differing from the language of real life a poem cannot be condemned. Nor could he accept Wordsworth's contention that 'there neither is, nor can be, any essential difference between the language of prose and metrical composition'. He says that this rule may be applicable only to certain classes of poetry and it need not be practiced as a rule. As regards the first statement, i.e. the choice of rustic characters and life, Coleridge points out, first, that not all Wordsworth characters are rustic. Characters in poems like Ruth, Michael, The Brothers, are not low and rustic. Secondly, their language and sentiments do not necessarily arise from their abode or occupation. They are attributable to causes of their similar sentiments and language, even if they have different abode or occupation. In the opinion of Coleridge, a man will not be benefited from a life in rural solitudes unless he has natural sensibility and suitable education. In the absence of these advantages, the mind hardens and a man grows, ‘selfish, sensual, gross and hard hearted’. As regards the second statement of Wordsworth, he denied Wordsworth's main view that a special virtue lies in the language of those who are in close touch with
nature. Coleridge attacks Wordsworth’s assumption that “the shepherd-farmers in the vales of Cumberland and Westmoreland” got their language from being close to nature. He said that they probably picked it up from “religious education, which has rendered few books familiar, but the Bible and the liturgy or hymn book”. Coleridge asserts that, unlike Wordsworth, he did not believe every man is likely to be improved by a country life or by country labor. He also shows his disagreement with Wordsworth’s view 'that from the objects with which the rustic hourly communicates the best part of language is formed.' His first objection to this statement is that the uneducated rustic "would furnish a very scanty vocabulary". The rural conditions of life do not require any reflection; hence the vocabulary of the rustics is poor. They can express only the barest facts of nature and not the ideas and thoughts which results from their reflection. Secondly, he denies that the words and their combinations, derived from the objects with which the rustic is familiar, can be justly said to form the best part of language .Coleridge emphatically says, the best part of a man’s language does not result merely from communication with nature, but from education, from the mind of noble thoughts and ideas. In fact, plain rustic language is so deficient that the missionaries who preach to the rural folk find it difficult to convey moral and spiritual ideas entirely in their vocabulary. Moreover, even in rural language the best elements have filtered down to it from the church and Bible. Wordsworth asserts that the language of poetry is, “a selection of the real language of men. Therefore he adds that the language of the common men should be "purified indeed from what appear to be its real defects, from all lasting and rational causes of dislike or disgust." Now Coleridge's contention is that when the language of the common men has been so purified and corrected and improved upon, it no longer remains the language of the common men as really used by them. Therefore there is no rational point in this part of his theory of language. Moreover, all the major poems of Wordsworth himself are written in a language which common men would even hardly understand. Again, in chapter XVII, Coleridge attacks Wordsworth’s use of the term "real language o f men." According to Coleridge, such a generalization cannot exist, for men are individuals by nature. Coleridge objects to Wordsworth’s use of the words, ‘very’ or ‘real’ and suggests that ‘ordinary’ or ‘generally’ should have been used .He retorts that: ‘Every man’s language’ varies according to the extent of his knowledge, the activity of his faculties, and the depth or quickness of his feelings.’ Every man’s language has, first, its individual peculiarities; secondly, the properties common to his class; and thirdly, words and phrases of universal use. ‘No two men of the same class or of different classes speak alike, although both use words and phrases common to them all, because in the one case their natures
are different and on the other their classes are different.’ The language varies from person to person, class to class, place to place. Wordsworth’s addition of the words, “in a state of excitement”, is meaningless, for emotional excitement may result in a more intense expression, but it cannot create a noble and richer vocabulary. Furthermore, he is attributing acts of the imagination to educated men, or in this case, those who possess poetic genius. What is apparent is that the language of poetry undoubtedly comes from the imagination. The way the poet perceives the world and, to use Wordsworth's term, translates it for everyone else is an act of the imagination. Lastly, To Wordsworth’s argument about having no essential difference between the language of poetry and prose, Coleridge replies that there is and there ought to be, an essential difference between both the languages and gives numerous reasons to support his view. First, language is both a matter and the arrangement of words. Words both in prose and poetry may be the same but their arrangement is different. This difference arises from the fact that the poetry uses metre and metre requires a different arrangement of words. Metre is not a mere superficial decoration, but an essential organic part of a poem. Even the metaphors and similes used by a poet are different in quality and frequency from prose. Further, it cannot be confirmed that the language of prose and poetry are identical and so convertible. There may be certain lines or even passages which can be used both in prose and poetry, but not all. There are passages which will suit the one and not the other. Thus Coleridge refutes Wordsworth’s views on the themes and language of poetry
Bibliography: --- Taylor ,C. S. Ed. M. H. Abrams. Vol. 2. (2002) Christabel.New York: W. W. Norton & Company. 349-364. --- Taylor, C. S. Ed. M. H. Abrams. Vol. 2 (2007) Biographia Literaria. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. 378-395. --- Wordsworth.W. Ed. M. H. Abrams .Vol. 2 (2002) Preface to Lyrical Ballads. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. 141-152.
