Wordsworth and Coleridge: Who is a poet? and Knowledge: Why Care?
Wordsworth:
Does it take someone special to be a poet? As children we are told we can be anything we want to be if we set our minds to it, but does that apply to everything? According to Wordsworth, a poet has a certain criteria to fill (it is found in the second paragraph of page two). I'm not going to list the requirements for time's sake, but I think the point is that it is not a calling for everyone. Of course, poetry has a lot of technical stuff attached to it, such as meter and rhythm. Does this mean anyone could learn how to write poetry? If that is the case, does that make them a poet? Personally, I think anyone can learn how to write poetry, but that does not necessarily make them a poet, especially according to Wordsworth. Thoughts?
Coleridge:
We should become masters of reflection. Why? Because we are the only creatures with the capacity to do this. I found this argument compelling. Last week, I was in a discussion about whether or not Christians should be gathering knowledge. Some people are of the opinion that knowledge can lead to arrogance and pride, so it should be avoided. I suppose this is true, but this can be said of just about everything in existence. According to Coleridge, it is a Christian duty to use the capacity God has given humans for reflection. We have an ability to reason, reflect, and produce ideas. We glorify God when we use our minds to do this. It reminded me of Descartes. He thought that the ability to think is what made humans human, which goes hand in hand with Coleridge's urge to become masters of reflection. If at least two great thinkers said this, I think we should listen.
Both:
My head is swimming. I find it very hard to grasp the meaning of poetry because I do not have much practice in it. Nevertheless, I will try my best to compare the two poets. Overall, I would say Coleridge is darker than Wordsworth. His poems seemed to focus on death and hatred more than Wordsworth's. Both poets incorporated themes and elements of nature, but Wordsworth seemed more obsessed with nature than Coleridge. Based on Wordsworth's description of a poet, I would say Coleridge makes a fine poet. He speaks to matters all humans can relate to, such as the guilty feelings and thoughts our minds create in the dead of night in "The Pains of Sleep." His language is not complicated, but it is very poetic, which can make it difficult to understand for someone like me who is not well-versed in how to read poetry. While I do not quite understand all that I read, I look forward to the discussion in class where, hopefully, I will discover the meaning behind these poems.
P.S. I commented on Will and Natalie's posts.
Does it take someone special to be a poet? As children we are told we can be anything we want to be if we set our minds to it, but does that apply to everything? According to Wordsworth, a poet has a certain criteria to fill (it is found in the second paragraph of page two). I'm not going to list the requirements for time's sake, but I think the point is that it is not a calling for everyone. Of course, poetry has a lot of technical stuff attached to it, such as meter and rhythm. Does this mean anyone could learn how to write poetry? If that is the case, does that make them a poet? Personally, I think anyone can learn how to write poetry, but that does not necessarily make them a poet, especially according to Wordsworth. Thoughts?
Coleridge:
We should become masters of reflection. Why? Because we are the only creatures with the capacity to do this. I found this argument compelling. Last week, I was in a discussion about whether or not Christians should be gathering knowledge. Some people are of the opinion that knowledge can lead to arrogance and pride, so it should be avoided. I suppose this is true, but this can be said of just about everything in existence. According to Coleridge, it is a Christian duty to use the capacity God has given humans for reflection. We have an ability to reason, reflect, and produce ideas. We glorify God when we use our minds to do this. It reminded me of Descartes. He thought that the ability to think is what made humans human, which goes hand in hand with Coleridge's urge to become masters of reflection. If at least two great thinkers said this, I think we should listen.
Both:
My head is swimming. I find it very hard to grasp the meaning of poetry because I do not have much practice in it. Nevertheless, I will try my best to compare the two poets. Overall, I would say Coleridge is darker than Wordsworth. His poems seemed to focus on death and hatred more than Wordsworth's. Both poets incorporated themes and elements of nature, but Wordsworth seemed more obsessed with nature than Coleridge. Based on Wordsworth's description of a poet, I would say Coleridge makes a fine poet. He speaks to matters all humans can relate to, such as the guilty feelings and thoughts our minds create in the dead of night in "The Pains of Sleep." His language is not complicated, but it is very poetic, which can make it difficult to understand for someone like me who is not well-versed in how to read poetry. While I do not quite understand all that I read, I look forward to the discussion in class where, hopefully, I will discover the meaning behind these poems.
P.S. I commented on Will and Natalie's posts.
Anybody can learn to fire a rifle, but not everyone has the passion and sense of sacrifice to willingly fight and die for his country. Getting a few bullseyes at the shooting range doesn't make you a soldier. I can see where Wordsworth is coming from.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with Coleridge. Our brains are amazing creations that can do hundreds of things at once; some voluntary and involuntary. We are the only creatures on earth who can comprehend and learn like we do and because God made us with this ability, we should use it. In response to the discussion you mentioned regarding whether or not humans should gather knowledge, I say yes we should. Excessive knowledge CAN lead to arrogance and pride as well as many other things, but only if you let it. As followers of Christ we must constantly keep ourselves in check to make sure this odes not happen. If we abstained from knowledge for our prides sake, we would not have some of the great thinkers and theologians in this day in age or in the past.
ReplyDelete"My head is swimming." Same, though. Same.
ReplyDeleteThinking about it, I do have to agree - Coleridge gets pretty dark at times. Perhaps we could say that he does his job a little too well. All that vivid imagery starts to take a dark turn during "Rhime." Wordsworth's stance, while I don't agree with it, does make sense in a way. A poet, in his sense, isn't truly one unless he or she has a definite passion for it. Without the passion, it's honestly just someone who writes poetry in their spare time.
I agree with your thoughts about Coleridge's poetry as compared to Wordsworth's. I just feel as though Wordsworth uses thoughts and ideas to portray things that can be explained so simplistically. And maybe that was because he was a romantic, I don't know. But what I like more about Coleridge is that he is not so wordy. His stories paint a clear picture and it is only at the end where we can really see the point.
ReplyDeleteI think a good statement for our case here is "Anyone can write a poem, but only some will be remembered as truly great or influential." Like Will said, it takes a special person to do some things. Coleridge is an outstanding poet. Based on that and Wordsworth's description of a good poet I agree that not everyone can be anything they want to be. Some people are made for education, some for art and literature, some for labor. Each person has a place in the world. It is just a matter of finding your niche in life.
ReplyDelete