Coleridge's Aesthetics

About Coleridge's Aesthetics

Coleridge's transcendentalism has been a stumbling block in the way of his admirers as well as students of his poetry and criticism. Readers are in love with his subtle-souled psychology in poetry and delicate imagery. They also admire his brilliant and perceptive criticism seen in his remarks on the genius of Shakespeare or the poetic diction of Wordsworth. But the philosophical and psychological assumptions that underlie his criticism, especially with regard to the origin and composition of poetry, baffle and intrigue his readers. Several efforts have been made to elucidate them but without much success. Professor Gokak, a well known poet and perceptive critic and a celebrated professor of English language and literature, has, in these pages, brought to bear on Coleridge's aesthetics, not only his poetic sensibility and critical acumen and scholarship, but also his Indian cultural background and his study of Indian aesthetics. The result is that he is able to present a fascinating exposition of Coleridge?s aesthetic principles: What seemed to be utter confusion mixed up with opium dreams, is now seen to be a profound psychological account of the genesis and evolution of poetry. Professor Gokak has succeeded in lighting up most of the obscure corners in Coleridge's theory.