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What criticism of William Wordsworth’s poetry appears in Biographia Literaria?
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Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, detail of an oil painting by Washington Allston, 1814; in the National Portrait Gallery, London.
In his work Biographia Literaria (1817), Samuel Taylor Coleridge provides a reasoned critique of the poetry of his friend and collaborator, William Wordsworth.1
Coleridge’s primary criticisms include the following points:
- Overstatement of Theory: Coleridge argued that Wordsworth overstated his case regarding the use of "the language really used by men" in poetry.2
- Contradiction: He believed that Wordsworth’s own best work often contradicted the very theories he proposed in his prefaces to Lyrical Ballads.2
- Lack of Poetic Quality: Coleridge contended that some of the poems Wordsworth wrote specifically to adhere to his theory of using everyday language failed to achieve the necessary level or quality of poetry.2
While Coleridge deeply venerated the power of the imagination, his analysis in Biographia Literaria serves as a significant intellectual assessment of the divergence between Wordsworth's stated poetic principles and his actual practice.1