STAMFORD UNIVERSITY

BANGLADESH

Assignment on:
Coleridges 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
Wordsworths 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 Wordsworths 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 Wordsworths 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 mans 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 Wordsworths 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 Wordsworths use of the
words, very or real and suggests that ordinary or generally should have been
used .He retorts that: Every mans language varies according to the extent of his
knowledge, the activity of his faculties, and the depth or quickness of his feelings.
Every mans 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. Wordsworths 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 Wordsworths 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 Wordsworths 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.