Conversation poem

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A conversation poem is a genre in English poetry growing out of the close co-operation between Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Wordsworth in the late 1790s. The name is applied particularly to the group of poems by Coleridge known as the Conversation poems and covers others like them by Wordsworth, these poems being defined as addressing someone very close to the poet in "an informal but serious manner of deliberation that expands from a particular setting". [1] Other examples of such poems include Wordsworth's "Lines written a few miles above Tintern Abbey" [2] [3] and The Prelude . [4] Sometimes the term is extended to informal verse epistles by other poets. [1]

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Conversation poems Poems composed by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

The conversation poems are a group of at least eight poems composed by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834) between 1795 and 1807. Each details a particular life experience which led to the poet's examination of nature and the role of poetry. They describe virtuous conduct and man's obligation to God, nature and society, and ask as if there is a place for simple appreciation of nature without having to actively dedicate one's life to altruism.

Frost at Midnight is a poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, written in February 1798. Part of the conversation poems, the poem discusses Coleridge's childhood experience in a negative manner and emphasizes the need to be raised in the countryside. The poem expresses hope that Coleridge's son, Hartley, would be able to experience a childhood that his father could not and become a true "child of nature". The view of nature within the poem has a strong Christian element in that Coleridge believed that nature represents a physical presence of God's word and that the poem is steeped in Coleridge's understanding of Neoplatonism. Frost at Midnight has been well received by critics, and is seen as the best of the conversation poems.

Fears in Solitude, written in April 1798, is one of the conversation poems by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. The poem was composed while France threatened to invade Great Britain. Although Coleridge was opposed to the British government, the poem sides with the British people in a patriotic defense of their homeland. The poem also emphasizes a desire to protect one's family and to live a simple life in harmony with nature. The critical response to the poem was mixed, with some critics claiming that the work was "alarmist" and anti-British.

"Dejection: An Ode" is a poem written by Samuel Taylor Coleridge in 1802. The poem in its original form was written to Sara Hutchinson, a woman who was not his wife, and discusses his feelings of love for her. The various versions of the poem describe Coleridge's inability to write poetry and living in a state of paralysis, but published editions remove his personal feelings and mention of Hutchinson.

To William Wordsworth is a poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge written in 1807 as a response to poet William Wordsworth's autobiographical poem The Prelude, called here "that prophetic lay". Wordsworth had recited that poem to his friend Coleridge personally. In his poem, Coleridge praises Wordsworth's understanding of both external and human nature, at the same time emphasizing Wordsworth's poetic achievement and downplaying his own.

"A slumber did my spirit seal" is a poem written by William Wordsworth in 1798 and published in the 1800 edition of Lyrical Ballads. It is usually included as one of his The Lucy poems, although it is the only poem of the series not to mention her name. The poem is a mere eight lines long; two "stanzas."

Romantic literature in English Era in English-language literature

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References

  1. 1 2 Baldick, Chris (2008). The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms. Oxford UP. p. 70. ISBN   9780199208272.
  2. Robinson, Daniel (2010). William Wordsworth's Poetry. A&C Black. p. 67. ISBN   9781441145871.
  3. Barth, J. Robert (2003). Romanticism and Transcendence: Wordsworth, Coleridge, and the Religious Imagination . U of Missouri P. p.  73. ISBN   9780826214539.
  4. Gill, Stephen Charles (1991). Wordsworth: The Prelude. Cambridge UP. p. 23. ISBN   9780521369886.