THE ONE LIFE: COLERIDGE AND HINDUISM

For the first time, a monographic study of Coleridge’s work extensively uncovers the connections of his poetry with the Hindu view of life. This study investigates Coleridge’s philosophical and spiritual itinerary; it originally contributes in showing the strong impact the first translations of some texts of Hinduism had on the author’s psyche, philosophical approach and poetical inspiration. In addition, Coleridge’s unpublished manuscript notes found in one of the Abbé J. A. Dubois’ seminal studies of India are here presented as proof of the poet’s long standing interest in and frequentation of Hinduism.

Inclined to investigate the complexities of the human condition, both poetically and philosophically, Coleridge has tried to resolve the extremes of human existence through a synthesis of both Western and Oriental visions through which the universe ultimately emerges as an organic cosmos rhythmically unfolding through an intricate web of influxes, echoes and correspondences.

Antonella Riem Natale’s scholarly work invites readers to participate in the open-ended adventure of Coleridge’s quest toward the Divine One and its multi-faceted layers of existence by originally combining textual analysis with all recent literary criticism and inter-disciplinary investigations, encompassing mythological, anthropological, philosophical, scientific and historical fields of study. Weaving personal facets of Coleridge’s artistic sensibility with the Hindu world-view, the underlying metaphysical concerns that were integral to his vision of art and existence are thus unravelled in a coherent and poignant reinterpretation of an extraordinary poet and his times.
CONTENTS
1. Coleridge’s Philosophical and Metaphysical Ideas

i. A Visionary Universe

ii. Philosophical and Spiritual Itinerary/ies: East and West

iii. Coleridge, India and Hinduism

iv. “Yet There Must be a Oneness, an Absolute Unity”

v. Bhakti: Love as Devotion within a Pure Heart

vi. Tandra or Sleep-like Consciousness

vii. The Invisible Sun Within Us

viii. Coleridge’s Rejection

2. Conversation and Other Poems

i. “Sonnet to the Autumnal Moon”

ii. “Life”

iii. “To the Evening Star”

iv. “The Aeolian Harp” and the One Life

v. “This Lime-Tree Bower My Prison”

vi. “Frost at Midnight”

vii. “Dejection: An Ode”

viii. “Hymn Before Sun-Rise in the Vale of Chamouni”

ix. “To Nature”

x. “Epitaph”

3. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

i. Dancer in the Tempest

ii. The Mariner, the Wedding Guest, the Bride, the Minstrels, the Feast

iii. “Some-thing” Shoots the Arrow

iv. “All Peoples’ Destiny is Tied to Their Neck”

v. Magic and Poetry

vi. The Wedding Guest Again

vii. “They Lived On”

viii. Sun/Moon

ix. The Poetic Word as Imprint of the Soul

x. Reason Surrenders

xi. The Native Country, the Church, the Tower, and the Psychopompous Hermit

xii. Absolve Yourself

4. “Kubla Khan” or a Vision in a Dream

i. An Owl that Won’t Bear Daylight

ii. The Impracticable Garden

iii. The Inner Sanctuary

iv. The Orphic Cosmic Egg

v. Intimate Vision

vi. Mythic Circuit

5. “Christabel” – Women and Vision

i. Women’s Fairy-tales

ii. Prayer, Invocation, Oak, the Other

iii. A Tightrope, a Threshold

iv. The Key of Knowledge

v. Nakedness of Body and Soul

vi. The Hermit Maiden, or the “The Youthful Hermitess”

vii. The Wounded King

viii. Vision in a Dream: the Serpent and the Dove

ix. The Divine Child, the Nimble Elf, Another Enchantment, the Dance of Life

By Way of Conclusion – Composing Fragments Together