Chapter 4 - Ars Poetica

Summary

This book, having concentrated on Coleridge’s prose, now wonders what remnants of Coleridge’s sensitivity to the rhythm of his steps as well as to his lineal and geometric orientation exist in his nature poetry. To begin with, this chapter focuses on how the imprint of his feet moving through a landscape significantly contributed to the ways in which he shaped the contour of his nature poems and bestowed on them a feeling of immediacy. These poems also demonstrate his keen sensitivity to the lines of motion that run through and diagram the landscape he describes in his notebooks. Also Coleridge often paid attention to his understanding of the geometric figure. This chapter turns to “Frost at Midnight” and to “This Lime-Tree Bower My Prison” to illustrate how the circular and triangular forms ultimately shape and unite what initially seem disconnected to create a sense of the whole. The chapter ends by recognizing, however, that the topography of Coleridge’s nature poetry is not just determined by the geometric outline of its structure but rather finds its vibrancy in the selection of sensual details. Though alert to abstract geometric figures, Coleridge’s nature poetry primarily grounds itself within the realm of his physical contact with the earth.