‘Could a rule be given from without, poetry would cease to be poetry, and sink into a mechanical art. It would be μóρφωσις, not ποίησις. The rules of the IMAGINATION are themselves the very powers of growth and production. The words to which they are reducible, present only the outlines and external appearance of the fruit. A deceptive counterfeit of the superficial form and colours may be elaborated; but the marble peach feels cold and heavy, and children only put it to their mouths.’ [Coleridge, Biographia ch. 18]

‘ποίησις’ (poiēsis) means ‘a making, a creation, a production’ and is used of poetry in Aristotle and Plato. ‘μóρφωσις’ (morphōsis) in essence means the same thing: ‘a shaping, a bringing into shape.’ But Coleridge has in mind the New Testament use of the word as ‘semblance’ or ‘outward appearance’, which the KJV translates as ‘form’: ‘An instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which hast the form [μóρφωσις] of knowledge and of the truth in the law’ [Romans 2:20]; ‘Having a form [μóρφωσις] of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away’ [2 Timothy 3:5]. I trust that's clear.

There is much more on Coleridge at my other, Coleridgean blog.

Monday 22 November 2021

Orwell Prizes Open For Entries For 2022 And Judges Announced

 


... and one of the judges is me. Indeed I'm chairing the panel for Political Fiction, alongside the excellent Dennis Duncan, Sana Goyal, and Monique Roffey, as you'll see if you click that link. Looking forward to this!

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1 comment:

  1. Paul25 November 2021 at 06:01

    Regarding "A Source for Sweeney Todd" on your Notebook site, a little googling got me back to 1793, where a trap door / meat pie incident is related in *The Life of the Late Earl of Barrymore Including a History of the Wargrave Theatricals, and Original Anecdotes of Eminent Persons. By Anthony Pasquin, Esq*. It's on page 53 of the scan: https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Life_of_the_Late_Earl_of_Barrymore/P69bAAAAQAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22trap-door%22+pies&pg=PA53&printsec=frontcover

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