Thinking activity: Coleridge's Biographia Literaria

After discussion in Coleridge's Biographia Literaria we had task to give our point of view or our understanding about it.

Here is the link of the blog from where the task was given us: click here.

Biographia Literaria by S.T.Coleridge is a great literary work.
 Coleridge’s written critical work is contained in 24 chapters of Biographia Literaria (1815-17). In chapter XIV of Biographia Literaria, Coleridge has discussed his view on nature and function of poetry, and difference between poem and poetry. Difference between prose and poem also.
Coleridge was to deal with ' persons and character super natural'. As we all know that Wordsworth and Coleridge are romantic poet but we find many differences between both of them. Both had different on their point of view about poetic diction.
Here two questions from Coleridge’s Biographia Literaria and we should give answer about this two questions.

1) Differences between poem and poetry. 

As we all know that poetry and poem are part of literature and the purpose of literary work is providing information, Pleasure, entertainment and inspiration to people. I think poetry and poem are same, it means it is some hard work to find differences between poetry and poem. If different meaning can be in one Poem its understanding it should be poetry. Poetry is the process of creating a poem. Poem and poetry are piece of writing. Poem is the arrangement of words and it expresses writer’s thought and feelings to readers and also speak about the mood of happy or sad.

Poem means within few words we get a lot. It means according to my point of view poem may be shorter than poetry. It has not longer contain. Poem with rhyme and without rhyme also. So I want to say that it not means that without rhyme poem can not make. Poetry is also form of art. Poem can be many types like:

• Epic poem• Narrative poem• Dramatic poem• Lyric poem• Sonnet• Ode• Balled

It is said that:

“Poetry sews the characters and the poem show you the story or message”. Poetry is the collection of poem and poem is single work in that collection.

We can say that this is poem because poet has used metaphors like:

 શ્વાસ, ચેતનપુષ્પો, વસંત, પડછાયો.

Through this metaphorical language poet has made Poem some hard to understand I mean we can understand the poem with our own interpretation that what we learn from it or what we understand about it.

According to my point of view this is poetry because we can easily understand and interpret it. Only one meaning we can find from this poetry and it is clearly visible that what poet want to say.

2) Differences between poem and prose.

Find difference between poem and prose is easy than find difference between poem and poetry. According to Coleridge poem contains the elements as a prose composition. Poem and prose both uses words. Poem also may be in prosic composition but, rhyme or meter or both is used in poem but, it is not used in prose composition. Poem provides pleasure it means it’s purpose is to provide pleasure to readers and listeners. Poem also becomes prose and prose also becomes poem. Language of poetry may be metaphorical and due to this language poetry differs than prose. In prose some specific meaning and we can’t change it’s meaning. I mean we can interpret meaning of poem with our point of view or what we can understand from poem but, it is not happen in prose. Language of prose may be clear and so we can’t change it’s meaning. Prose used by literary writers and used by scientists is different. Language of poem we can change with our interpretation but, prose's language has only one meaning. We can read poem in our own way. Aim of composition is very important. What it’s aim in that type we can justify it poem or prose, not by its rhyme or meter.