A Study of Nature and God in Coleridge's Poetry

• Main Authors: Ting-Yi Wen, 溫庭儀
• Other Authors: 郭章瑞
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2017
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/28t2p8

碩士 === 國立中央大學 === 英美語文學系 === 105 === This thesis deals with Coleridge's way of exploring nature interwoven with his controversial opium addiction and his steadfast belief in Christianity. Opposite or discordant qualities are the common ground among the three aspects: opium, nature, and God. All of the three are closely inter-related to the extent that their influences on Coleridge are equally matched and the tensions between them cause Coleridge to show poetic tension. In Coleridge's works, there are opposite or discordant qualities inherent in each aspect respectively: opium addiction and abstention from it, the sublime and the beautiful, and the immersion in nature and worship of God. I will analyze these opposite or discordant qualities mainly for the reason that their interactions might account for the connection between Coleridge's works and Coleridge himself. On the other hand, Coleridge's natural philosophy is the key point worthy of discussion. The differences between Coleridge's natural philosophy and those of his contemporaries strengthen Coleridge's belief in the Christian God. In other words, how does Coleridge avoid being deemed a deist or pantheist while he is well acknowledged for embracing nature and composing poems eulogizing nature? Keeping all these mentioned above in mind, the answer to the question will cast light on Coleridge's concepts of nature and God and subsequently figure out Coleridge's reason for opium addiction. In a word, there is no discord and conflict between Coleridge's natural philosophy and the Christian God. By means of exploring Coleridge's concepts of nature and God, we might discover humans' roles in the relationship between nature and God.