Towards a Romantic Conception of Nature: Coleridge's Poetry up to 1803: A study in the history of ideas

224 Pages·1984·19.607 MB·English

by  H.R. Rookmaaker

COLERIDGE'S POETRY UP TO 1803
UTRECHT PUBLICATIONS IN
GENERAL AND COMPARATIVE LITERATURE
Utrechtse Publikaties voor Algemene Literatuurwetenschap
(UPAL)
Series Editors:
Keith Busby
C. de Deugd
J.J. Oversteegen
Institute of General and Comparative Literature
Utrecht, The Netherlands
The volumes to be included in the series will fall into three main groups:
a) studies which contribute to the understanding of the problems of literary
theory, past and present;
b) works which can be said to fill existing lacunae in the fields of general and
comparative literature, including text editions;
c) works which reflect the research interests of the department itself. This
includes comparative literature from the Middle Ages to the present, as well
as particular aspects of and approaches to the theory of literature.
Volume 20
H.R. Rookmaaker Jr.
Towards a Romantic Conception of Nature:
Coleridge's Poetry up to 1803.
H.R. Rookmaaker Jr.
TOWARDS A
ROMANTIC CONCEPTION OF NATURE:
COLERIDGE'S POETRY UP TO 1803
A Study in the History of Ideas
JOHN BENJAMINS PUBLISHING COMPANY
AMSTERDAM/PHILADELPHIA
1984
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Rookmaaker Jr., H.R.
Towards a romantic conception of nature.
(Utrecht publications in general and comparative literature, ISSN 0167-8175; v. 20)
Bibliography.
Includes indexes.
1. Coleridge, Samuel Taylor, 1772-1834--Criticism and interpretation. 2. Nature in liter­
ature. 3. Philosophy of nature. 4. Romanticism-England.
I. Title. II. Series.
PR4487.N3R66 1984 821'.7 84-24633
ISBN 90-272-2205-3 (hb.)
ISBN 90-272-2215-0 (pb.)
© Copyright 1984 - John Benjamins B.V.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by print, photoprint, microfilm, or
any other means, without written permission from the publisher.
To the memory of my father

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
My warmest thanks are due to Prof. Dr.  de Deugd for his unceasing
support and encouragement as well as for his useful suggestions and tactful
criticism. I am also indebted to Dr. S. Varey of the University of Utrecht
for his careful reading of the manuscript, and to Prof. Dr. A. Fry of the Free
University of Amsterdam for his suggestions. I am grateful to Mark de Klijn
for his advice and to librarians and staff of the Provinciale Bibliotheek of
Leeuwarden for their cooperation. This study would never have been com­
pleted without the encouragement of my relatives and friends, and of my
colleagues of the Christelijk Gymnasium of Leeuwarden who have managed
to keep up their interest in the progress of my work. I must record a further
debt of gratitude to my publishers, Mr and Mrs Benjamins, and their staff
for their hospitality while I was working on one of their word processors.
Most special thanks are due to my wife who had to put up not only with my
almost continual absence from the living room, but also with my frequent
absent-mindedness. I dedicate this study to the memory of my father whose
ideas and love of learning have always been a source of inspiration to me.

CONTENTS
Acknowledgements vi
Introduction 1
I. The Eighteenth Century Tradition of Nature Poetry 13
II. The Traditional Character of Coleridge's Early Poetry 25
III. The 1796 Poems and their Philosophical Background 33
IV. Coleridge and Wordsworth in 1797; Their Interest in Evil and
Alienation 55
V. Alienation Reconsidered: 'The Ancient Mariner' 65
VI. 'Frost at Midnight' : A Companion Piece to 'The Ancient Mariner' 95
VII. A Brief Survey of Continental Ideas on Man and Nature 103
VIII. A Movement Away From Empiricism, Towards the 'one Life'
Idea: 1799-1803 117
IX. The 'one Life' and Alienation: 'Dejection: an Ode' 133
X. 'Kubla Khan' and its Ideational Resemblance to 'Dejection: an
Ode' 147
XI. Reality and Dream: Romantic Irony in 'The Picture' 153
Conclusion 169
Notes 173
Bibliography 203
Index 209
Index of Coleridge's works 213