Of Modern Poetry - Correlation With Coleridge's Theory

Correlation With Coleridge's Theory

Coleridge agrees with Wordsworth’s emphasis on nature by calling for organicism in the poem itself. Form loses it importance as a means of mimicry, but has new value as something arising naturally out of the poet’s expressiveness. “Of Modern Poetry” has a unique form that contributes to the poem’s purpose, which is exactly what Coleridge called for in contrast to the structure that previously typified poetry. Imagination also played an important role for Coleridge as a literary theorist. Coleridge saw the imagination as two divisible, but dependent parts. The primary imagination deals with our experience of God’s creation around us, while the secondary imagination is a person’s ability to recreate that experience in a new form. Alternatively, Stevens sees the imagination as “not a divine effulgence but a constructive power, a labour." This can be seen in the poem as poetry is called to “construct a new stage” and then is depicted as “an insatiable actor, slowly and / With meditation” taking action. Stevens shows the hard work of poetry, not a divine or superhuman guiding light. Coleridge also put a great emphasis on the ability of art to supply a secular Christian experience through its internalization. Rosenthal says “Stevens… is an American Romantic for whom poetry is a form of secular salvation,” which somewhat matches the religious affiliation that Coleridge attributes to poetry. Stevens’ theories as presented in “Of Modern Poetry” stray from tradition Romantic thought through their emphasis on the self-reflexive nature of poetry and the hard work that accompanies imaginative art.