Dreams and the egotistical sublime: Coleridge and Wordsworth

Journal/Book: Dreaming. 1997; 7: 233 Spring St, New York, NY 10013-1578. Human Sci Press Inc. 85-98.

Abstract: This article explores the significance of dreaming in Coleridge's aesthetic, in the context of his need to differentiate his work from that of Wordsworth. It argues that Coleridge sought to vindicate his own writing as well as to make generally valid statements, when he compared poetry and dreaming on the basis that the imaginary objects of each are symbolic of a subjective self that is not explicitly present. In opposition to Wordsworth's ''sublime egotism,'' Coleridge's aesthetic emphasized the loss, rather than the (re)discovery of self and allowed for fragmentation and repetition rather than growth. It formed an alternative Romantic ideology-one capable of challenging the claims of that with which we are more familiar-an ''aesthetics of inachievement.'' The texts examined in the article are ''The Pains of Sleep,'' ''Kubla Khan,'' and ''Christabel,'' as well as numerous notebook entries, published and unpublished.

Note: Article Fulford T, Nottingham Trent Univ, Dept English & Media Studies, Clifton Lane, Nottingham NG11 8NS, ENGLAND

Keyword(s): Coleridge; Wordsworth; aesthetics; dream poetry

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