1.

“Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings” (Wordsworth)

By “Spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings”, Wordsworth opines that poetry is a matter of mood
and inspiration. Poetry evolves from the feelings of the poet. Poetry’s source is the feeling in the heart,
not the ideas of the intellect. A poet cannot write under pressure. In this regard, poetry flows out of his
heart in a natural and fluent manner. Deep emotion is the basic condition of poetry; powerful feelings
and emotions are fundamental. Without them great poetry cannot be written. But T. S. Eliot in his
Tradition and the Individual Talent rejects Wordsworth's definition of poetry and holds the idea that a
writer should be impersonal, and his writings should be devoid of personal emotion and feelings.

My view:

I agree to this theory, that depicting emotion requires prior thought and acquired skill on the part of the
poet. The poet should be able to successfully observe and depict the thoughts and feelings that people
have when they are in “a state of excitement,” meaning the stimulation people experience in a situation.
In this way, when a poet successfully composes a poem, that poem should have a noticeable effect on
its reader, as it is relatable.

2. “it (poetry) takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility"

(Wordsworth)

To begin with Wordsworth’s words, “I have said that poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful
feelings; it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility.” At first glance, these two statements
seem contradictory, but Wordsworth’s theory of poetry involved the fusion of the two statements. In a
sense powerful feelings and profound thought make poetry perfect. Wordsworth told that the poet
can’t rely on sensibility alone. He has to be a person who has also thought long and deeply. After that, a
calm mind is equally necessary to furnish the past/ previous thoughts/ feelings.

My view:

It is true that poetry itself is redefined as "the spontaneous overflow of powerful feeling: it takes its
origin from emotion recollected in tranquility." That is, poetry is the outcome of a creative process. The
poet thinks about an emotional experience "in tranquility," after the original moment of feeling has
passed. But as he thinks, the emotion returns, and while under the influence of this renewed feeling,
the poet begins to write the poem. Pleasure is the state in which the poetic composition is written, and
pleasure is also found in the result. Wordsworth assumes that the reader of such poetry will share the
poet's pleasure. At least, said Wordsworth, that is what he aims for in his poetry.

3. “Poetry is the fragrance of all human knowledge and thoughts” (ST Coleridge)
Coleridge distinguishes a poem from poetry in his "Biographia Literaria". He opines that poetry is a wider
term than a poem. Poetry is an activity of poet's mind. But a poem is merely one of the forms of its
expression. Poetic creativity is basically an activity of the imagination. Poetry is a kind of activity in which
any creative artist, poets, painters or scientists work. It brings out the whole soul of man into activity
through the magical power of imagination.

Coleridge considers poetry as the fragrance of all human knowledge and thoughts. It is the scent of
human passions, emotions and language. He thinks that no man was ever a great poet without being a
profound philosophy. A great poet should attempt and achieve a union between the high finish and the
appropriateness.

My view:

In my view, Coleridge's distinction between 'a poem' and 'poetry' is not clear enough. It seems that this
distinction does not for clearness. By the word, 'poetry', he means all kinds of imaginative activity
including painting, sculpture, architecture etc. It has been used by Coleridge in a very wide sense to
mean all the fine arts. Only in this sense, he has drawn a distinction between 'a poem' and 'poetry'.

4. “Poetry is Impersonal” (TS Eliot)

Eliot says, “the progress of the artist is a continual self-sacrifice, a continual extinction of personality”. In
other words, the poet’s emotions and passions must be depersonalized; he must be as impersonal and
objective as a scientist.

According to Eliot, the artist must continually surrender himself to something which is more valuable
than himself, i.e. the literary tradition. He must allow his poetic sensibility to be shaped and modified by
the past. He must continue to acquire the sense of tradition throughout his career. In the beginning, his
self, his individuality, may assert itself, but as his powers mature there must be greater and greater
extinction of personality. He must acquire greater and greater objectivity. A good poem, he must realize,
is a living whole of all the poetry that has ever been written. Hence a poet must be absorbed in acquiring
a sense of tradition and expressing it in his poetry.

My view:

Impersonality means a writer's own escape from emotion should not be reflected into his own poetry. It
is not the expression of his personality but an escape from the personality. Just to achieve this quality,
the poet must achieve historical sense or the sense of tradition. This historical sense should be achieved
through hardship. A poet should not only know about his own tradition but also, he should be
acquainted with outer tradition. Then he will be able to sacrifice his personality in his poetry. A good
poet is always conscious where he ought to be.

5. “Willing Suspension of Disbelief” (ST Coleridge)

Though the term is not confined to poetry only, yet it suits equally good to poetic belief. It is used to
refer to the willingness of the audience to overlook the limitations of a medium, so that these do not
interfere with the acceptance of those premises. These premises may also lend to the engagement of
the mind and perhaps proposition of thoughts, ideas, art and theories.

My view:

To this phrase I agree the most. “Willing suspension in disbelief” is the method of bringing non-realistic,
supernatural elements in justification in literature. It is a way through which a writer infuses a “human
interest and a semblance of truth” into a fantastic tale, the reader would suspend judgment concerning
the implausibility of the narrative. This formula refers that the responsibility is on the readers, rather
than on the writer, to achieve it.

Analysis of “Rime of Ancient Mariner” in light of Willing Suspension of Disbelief”

Several times during his story the mariner talks about some elements that are considered
impossible - ‘the death-fires’, the skeleton of a ship (gloss), ‘The Nightmare Life-In-Death’, the
‘polar spirits’, the ‘angelic spirits’- or supernatural in day to day life. But the way in which
Coleridge used these entities makes them much more than that. The killing of a bird in physical
world brings no great significance in human life. But in this poem Coleridge made it matter of
utmost importance in the lives of the crew of the ship.
The mariner has violated the sanctity of nature through killing the bird, and the rest of the crew
accomplices by supporting his cause. As a result, the nature begins to punish them all. The wind
drops for as it is said earlier; furthermore they are haunted by a spirit who “loved the bird who
loved the man” follows them from “the land of mist and snow”, the home of the albatross, to
avenge its death.
“Water, water, everywhere,
And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, everywhere,
nor any drop to drink”

– thus, the avenge began. The crew begins to die as soon as a horrific ship approaches “without
a breeze, ithout a tide.” The mariner calls it “The Nightmare Life-In-Death.” They all die leaving
the mariner with the ‘slimy things’ crawling under the sea to make his penance. The loneliness
makes his life worse than the dead ones, “Alone, alone, all, all alone, / Alone on a wide wide
sea”. Then one night he sees few water snakes and praises their beauty, and ‘the selfsame
moment’ he can pray, and the albatross falls from his neck. Then come two Polar Spirits who
demand further penance of the mariner. They are then compelled to help him by the Angelic
Spirits to carry on the journey.