| Wordsworth and Coleridge, as representatives of the early British Romantics, have attracted lasting but varied discussions in literary criticism. The study undertakes to conduct a profounder survey of their Romantic quest for the infinite in a religious light that is seldom intended before—the exploration of the pantheist elements implicitly manifested in their works, as well as the distinct Romantic hue revealed in the poetic expression of the pantheist infinite. Through a religious review, Chapter Two examines the inextricable connection between pantheist thoughts and Christianity and the interwoven evolution in the historical context of the philosophical thoughts, which jointly conceals the pantheist elements hidden in the religious thoughts of Wordsworth and Coleridge so that either the poets or later critics are rarely conscious of them. In such a light, a textual analysis of their poems increasingly reveals some significant images and recurring sentiments that are apt to present an infinite Unity with a pantheist hue. Thus Chapter Three explores the pantheist characteristics of the Unity, including immanence, ceaseless dynamic process, integration of diversity and organism, which manages to provide their Romantic pursuit with an ideal paradigm, so as to surmount the conundrum raised by Kant and succeed in assimilating both German metaphysics and British empiricism. And the quest for the infinite gets its Romantic mark in Wordsworth and Coleridge, which is the individuality granted a special significance in the pursuing course. Therefore, Chapter Four analyzes the emphasis of the finite individual in the quest for infiniteness and how the individual eventually breaks through the finity so as to integrate into the infinite. It is hoped that this study will contribute to foregrounding the relationship between early British Romanticism and pantheism, and offer a new perspective for the analysis of the poetic works of Wordsworth and Coleridge. |
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