Listen To The Voice Of Imagination

In many introductory books for literature, Coleridge has been commonly defined as a representative figure in the British Romanticism, a great critic in literary work and theory and a specialist in the study of Shakespeare' s work. Coleridge study has mainly been focused on three of his representative poems, the rime of the ancient mariner, Kubla Khan and Christabel while the rest of his works are paid less attention to. He is always a controversial figure in the history of literature for the impalpability of both his poems and theory. Generally speaking, studies on Coleridge are comparatively less abundant, which are especially limited at home and most of them are just brief introduction to Coleridge as a poet in that certain literary period, that is, the English Romanticism.However, Coleridge is actually one of the most versatile in the history of creation. He is not only a creator in diversified area but also a great thinker in term of mental activities, which are responsible for creation. If we study comprehensively Coleridge's creation and theory of imagination, we could draw a conclusion that Coleridge should be redefined for a better understanding and for the benefits of following generation to have a deeper insight into n human civilization.This thesis is a tentative study on Coleridge focusing on sources of Coleridge's innovative understanding of imagination. Different from all former studies, the project is a comprehensive research on Coleridge's central idea of imagination, to be more specific, a research on the formation of Coleridge's revolutionary understanding of imagination, on his theoretical generalization of this activity, on the representation of imagination in his own works, and on his designed application of imagination in other fields, such as in social reform. The methodology of this project is also different from former studies. The poet and his output are studied synthetically in order to pursue the mythological sources of his idea and creation on imagination, which are catalogued into four parts: his broad reading all through the life, his study and practice of dream state and dream work, his addiction to opium and the resulted repose and daydream, and finally his religious meditation and its influence on his contemplation on solution for human civilizationBy such analysis, at the last part of the thesis, two conclusions are drawn. On one hand, Coleridge is redefined as a great thinker on the mental activity of human creation. On the other hand, imagination, with its harmonious and unifying power, is demonstrated by Coleridge both in his theory and practice as the underlying principle in creation and the most significant element in the formation of civilization.