Coleridge and Shelley: Textual EngagementSally West's timely study is the first book-length exploration of Coleridge's influence on Shelley's poetic development. Beginning with a discussion of Shelley's views on Coleridge as a man and as a poet, West argues that there is a direct correlation between Shelley's desire for political and social transformation and the way in which he appropriates the language, imagery, and forms of Coleridge, often transforming their original meaning through subtle readjustments of context and emphasis. While she situates her work in relation to recent concepts of literary influence, West is focused less on the psychology of the poets than on the poetry itself. She explores how elements such as the development of imagery and the choice of poetic form, often learnt from earlier poets, are intimately related to poetic purpose. Thus on one level, her book explores how the second-generation Romantic poets reacted to the beliefs and ideals of the first, while on another it addresses the larger question of how poets become poets, by returning the work of one writer to the literary context from which it developed. Her book is essential reading for specialists in the Romantic period and for scholars interested in theories of poetic influence. |
From inside the book
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... implies that the centre of this conflict occurs within the psyche of the ephebe. The precursor poet, rather than, as one might expect, acting in the role of the superego, controlling and repressing the instincts of the aspiring poet ...
... implies that the centre of this conflict occurs within the psyche of the ephebe. The precursor poet, rather than, as one might expect, acting in the role of the superego, controlling and repressing the instincts of the aspiring poet ...
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... implies, arises from the echoes of that image's employment throughout history, from the 'unstated middle terms' which are subtly reanimated in the figure's new context. In relating the work of Hollander to that of Bloom, we can start to ...
... implies, arises from the echoes of that image's employment throughout history, from the 'unstated middle terms' which are subtly reanimated in the figure's new context. In relating the work of Hollander to that of Bloom, we can start to ...
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... imply dialogue and relationship, qualities central to the thematic concerns of the Prometheus Unbound volume. As such, it may not be excessive to argue that the sort of poetic dialogue with Coleridge's works in which Shelley engages in ...
... imply dialogue and relationship, qualities central to the thematic concerns of the Prometheus Unbound volume. As such, it may not be excessive to argue that the sort of poetic dialogue with Coleridge's works in which Shelley engages in ...
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... implies that Shelley was unfortunate in drawing merely the short straw of Robert Southey during his residence in Keswick, this may be to look back with the hindsight of our current awareness of the degree of literary reputation accorded ...
... implies that Shelley was unfortunate in drawing merely the short straw of Robert Southey during his residence in Keswick, this may be to look back with the hindsight of our current awareness of the degree of literary reputation accorded ...
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... imply that 'obstinacy of opinion' is a characteristic of the poet. It is possible that in Southey's opinions, even – perhaps especially – in those he himself cannot share, Shelley saw a prototype of his own struggle: the necessity of ...
... imply that 'obstinacy of opinion' is a characteristic of the poet. It is possible that in Southey's opinions, even – perhaps especially – in those he himself cannot share, Shelley saw a prototype of his own struggle: the necessity of ...
Contents
The presence of Coleridge | |
The Voices of Mont Blanc | |
The vitally metaphorical in This Lime | |
The Legacy of Coleridges Mariner | |
Afterword | |
Index | |
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Common terms and phrases
Alastor albatross allusion Ancient Mariner Anxiety of Influence argues articulate attempt become Bodleian Coleridge Coleridge’s Hymn Coleridge’s poem conception context criticism curse Defence describe echo effect elder poet experience external Falsehood and Vice Famine fear figure Fraistat Furies gloss Harold Bloom Heaven human mind Hymn before Sun-rise imagery imaginative implies influence interpretation Jupiter Keswick Kubla Khan landscape language Letters lines literary London Lyrical Ballads Mariner’s Mary Shelley’s McEathron means metalepsis metaphor Michael O’Neill mind’s Mont Blanc movement natural world Notebook passage perceived perception Percy Bysshe Shelley perhaps poem’s poet’s poetic political potential precursor Prometheus Unbound volume Prometheus’s ravine recalls reflection Reiman relationship reveals Samuel Taylor Coleridge scene sea snake seems sense Shelley adds Shelley’s poem ship simile Slaughter snakes song Southey Southey’s spirits stanza suggests tempest thou thought tigers verse verse paragraph Vision voice Wasserman Whilst words Wordsworth