...in 1802, he laments the decay within himself of the shaping imagination, and says that — . i . " By abstruse research to steal From my own nature all...This was my sole resource, my only plan, Till that whieh suits a part infects the whole, And now is almost grown the habit of my soul." This passage opens...

...self-reproach in his ode on Drjecticm — " So not to think of what I needs must feel, But to be still and patient all I can, And haply by abstruse research...steal From my own nature all the natural man. This was rny sole resource, my only plan, Till what befits a part infects the whole, And now has almost grown...

...birth, My shaping spirit of Imagination. For not to think of what I needs must feel, But to be still and patient, all I can ; And haply by abstruse research...thoughts, that coil around my mind, Reality's dark dream ! I turn from you, and listen to the wind, Which long has raved unnoticed. What a scream Of agony by...

...paralysis ("and still I gaze — and with how blank an eye" [30]) becomes a function of psychic infection: "that which suits a part infects the whole, / And now is almost grown the habit of my soul" (92-93; italics mine). 8. So too, at times, even Coleridge: "all must have observed in common life,...

...evasive passage in all of Coleridge's poetry: For not to think of what I needs must feel, But to be still and patient, all I can; And haply by abstruse research...whole, And now is almost grown the habit of my soul. (PW, i, p. 367, lines 87-93) What is it that the speaker can't help feeling but mustn't think about?...

...birth, My shaping spirit of Imagination. For not to think of what I needs must feel, But to be still and patient, all I can; And haply by abstruse research to steal 90 From my own nature all the natural man — This was my sole resource, my only plan: 75/76 VI] V...

...mirth; My shaping spirit of Imagination. For not to think of what I needs must feel, But to be still and patient, all I can; And haply by abstruse research to steal From my own nature all the natural man — 90 This was my sole resource, my only plan: Till that which suits a part infects the whole, And...

...literary pleasure. So Coleridge, in "Dejection," speaks of being taken over by his analytic temper: "Till that which suits a part infects the whole,/ And now is almost grown the habit of my soul" (92-3). To this point, I think, much of academic literary criticism has now come. But it need not stay...

...REJOINDER TO A CRITIC You may be right: "How can I dare to feel?" May be the only question I can pose, "And haply by abstruse research to steal From my own nature all the natural man" My sole resource. And I do not suppose That others may not have a better plan. And yet I'll quote again,...

...The metaphysical explanation reappears: For not to think of what I needs must feel, Mui to be still and patient, all I can; And haply by abstruse research...steal From my own nature all the natural man — This w as my sole resource, my onh plan: Till that which snits a part infests the whole, And now is almost...