More than a Feeling -- Abigale Bell
I found this weeks reading to be very interesting. There is a thread of similarity in both the poems of Wordsworth and Coleridge. Each is very unique and neither follows the same poetic style. However, both poems give reverence to nature in an almost spiritual way. They evoke a feeling of spirituality. In Wordsworth's poem, the speaker views nature as the fountain from which understanding and higher, deeper thought springs forth.
...I have felt
A presence that disturbs me with the joy
Of elevated thoughts; a sense sublime
Of something far more deeply interfused,
Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns,
And the round ocean and the living air,
And the blue sky, and in the mind of man
(Wordsworth, 95-101).
The ancient mariner speaks, too, of a natural element as having supernatural power. The albatross that comes to the mariner's ship is seen as a good omen. It's white feathers represent its purity. Behind it comes the southward wind that blows the ship through the ice. When the mariner kills the albatross, only bad fortune befalls their ship.
And I had done a hellish think,
And it would work 'em woe;
For all averred, I had killed the bird
That made the breeze to blow.
Ah wretch! said they, the bird to slay,
That made the breeze to blow!
(Coleridge, 433).
When reading these poems, I tried to connect Kant's definition of enlightenment to the themes in the poetry. I think I failed to understand the significance here. Wordsworth's poem made several references to enlightenment imagery, but the focus is not on a person. Rather, it is on nature. Is this holy value placed on nature a product of Enlightenment thought? Wordsworth spoke of gaining a feeling from nature. Is the feeling of main importance here? In "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner," Coleridge says at the end, "He prayeth best, who loveth best..." (446). Here again, it seems there is an emphasis placed in feeling. That feeling is connected with spirituality. Is the feeling of the Enlightenment, then, in the spirituality of nature?
Commented on Taylor's and Haylee's posts.
Nothing like some good old compare and contrast to better understand what would otherwise be considered two nearly completely unrelated poems. The emphasis on spirituality is certainly a defining aspect of these two works, but the execution is different enough that they both convey an individual lesson about spirituality anyway. I personally struggled to find the main idea of certain passages in the mariner's tale, but that may just be through the form of storytelling rather than the content itself. As for Kant, I think we would have to put on our philosophy caps to adequately change or alter his definition if it were to fit the poems.
ReplyDeleteI noticed this parallel and found it interesting. I suppose it makes sense that they're of a similar theme considering they were originally published in the same poetry anthology, but I think their similarities go far beyond simply a love of nature. What I found most interesting was not the comparison between them, but the contrast. Wordsworth seems to draw an inherent value from nature itself, and he praises its authority and ability to save him from the melancholia of life. Coleridge's poem, however, looks beyond the wondrous creation (which he also seems to adore on a similar level to Wordsworth) to the creator, and how the beauty and value of creation reflects that of the one who made it. I'm not familiar with the theological leanings of these poets, so it may just be a difference of stylistic expression, but I found this contrast really interesting
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