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THIS DISSERTATI'ON HAS B.EEN MICROFILMED · '.EXACTLY AS RECEIVED.
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._:~--. · · . . : . ·. · -~--~.~~~SMENT · OF AKE~SIDE'S R~LE ~ ·A PRECU~o~ :·, . . . . ·. ·· · .OF ROMANTICISM: A STUDY OF THE POETRY . · .. . •
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~F ~ AKENSIDE .(1721-1770) I ' <• ,
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A . Thesis' sub~~tea,, :l,n partial fulfU.lm€mt
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l:f!lster of Arts .:• ..
. tiep~'t;t.ment of ~nglish ·
Memorial University of Newfoundl.and
. ~ \August 1981 .... \ ' ' . .. '
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·ABSTRACT '.
The traditional manner of assessing Akenside Is role as a ~ ' ' . '
~ .. ... precursor of . Romanticis.tit has been to :select certai~ isolated
PB:Bsa'ges from The Pleasures of Imagination which may be_ seen to
'ani:icip_ate the work o~ the great . Ronianti_c poets, . rather than . to - , I
treat ·the. poem"as ~a unified. argument. Owing to this kind 'of dis
regard for the . 'unity . ~f Akenside 1 s .poem, its full sig~ifi_cance ·as ) '
-. _ an eighteenth...: century exercise :i.n poetics is often .. missed; · Fur-. '
· ther,mOre, . Akeh.side' 8 _co~sideral?le .c::ontri~ution to the development
of the EngHsh .ode has been v~rtually neglected by the. ~ritics~ I o ' • '
A • 4 ' • • ~ . ,. • •
I comp~ete and accurate: a·ssessment of Akensiae' s place· in the oist~ry ' ' '
·. uf. English 1i terature can be made only , by con_sidering his lyric 1
. \ . ' . , . poetry in relation .. to ·the theocy of aeelthetics round ·in The Plea-:-.
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sures 'of Im~glnation, I - ' •
\ . . · In ·his
1foem Akens ide presents a theory which may 'be 'see~ as ·
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an imPortant ap-ology for poetic fancy and enthusiasm. ApplJiing , , ' , , · , I . ,
his own· deisti-c--bel-iefS to Shaftesbury's ·theory-that-beauty, truth,---1. •, \ - , '' , , - , · , I
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and good_ness are ideptictll, Aken~'ide claims that beauty in . the . ' .
physi~al re81m is an outward ~xpFassioh of divine Beauty. ' He also ' • I • '.
-as.ser-ts that _ i~aginad.o:n is myst~riously receptive of 'the divi~e • , I •. , . '. , , , ., I . ·,-'
. semplance wh:f..ch _extsts in ,the natural world. · Highly imagina~i ve
indi'viduals .. ai·e 'tnerefore · justified· in the{r enthusiasm £~,r beaut~,
since whatever -imagination l'erceives as beaui:'ifu~ ~ilL also be
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morally bene~icial. In ·it$··. jus:~ification of the ,p~'et 1 s ·love .,F . , ,. ''/ 4
beauty , and ~ ts $Omplete faith in imaginat.iO~ 1 1! ab.ility ~0 detE_:!Ct 0 1 , • • •\,
truth. on a symbolic level, the theory of aesth~tics in' The 'Plea-, · .
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sures of Imagination is Romantic iri its outlook.. ·
Akens.ide' s.l~ric poetry_ represents his attempt to· write the
kind of. verse which is prescribed by .his :Pleasures of Imaginati.im.
Many of his odes 'may · be seen to reflect Akenside' s s-truggle to ' I ' . , • ' ' ' ·• .' ' •
- attain a truly lyrlcal poetic style • . The 'inability .to ~ind renewed
lyriC ' inspiration is a ·theme ' Which reC~t:p Often in Akens.ide IS ?des,
. Much . of Akens ide's ,lyrtc v~rs·~ may be seen to, re.fie.ct those con-· · ' ' . . - . .. l . • . !
cerns which . affected him lis a !Ilan, but 'mbre 's:ignificantiy ',it r~'pre-
sents the dilelliDla which all , lydste · experi~nced · ~n an age unfavour-:.
ab~e to lyric p'oetry. ·From thi~ point of View,. Akenside played ~ .
· significant ~ol~ ·in the development of; tli.e ·English 6de. . • ', : I . . . . -
- . The great· admiratic~m whic~ _Wordswort_h· and Coleridge had (or
· The Pleasures of Ima~ination .is an indication ·or the innovative
·.' nature bf the theory which the work 'embodies• Wordsworth-may be 'I
seen to be. 'indebted to Akens ide for ·a great deal of :the moral ' . • '- , I _,
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· philosophy in The Excursio~, '~s well as for much of Vs ~h~ocy ------~-----~--~+
'rega~ding the mystic~l significance o'£ th~ natural ~-sublime found . ' . • ' ' • ' • ' I • ' • ' ' ' •
i~ The Prelude. :'. While the crit'ics generally consider Akens ide Is
influence on Coleridge's early .poetry ·to be cons.i de'rab:J,e·, · they· have
failed to see any significant connection b~tween -the earlier poet 1 s ·
· speculation on ima~:f:.nation and fancy. and Coleridge 1 s c~~ebr'~ted
theory~ - In The Pleasures of Imagination, . however, it :Ls . possible
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to fLnd mal;ly ' ideas . which are central to Cq~e:i:'idge- 1 s mature thebry . . . I . . • ' . .· . . ..
of imagination and fancy.;_ Akepside' s discourse on the nature and
· function of imagination is undoubtedly a clof?e foreqmner of the .. Romantic concept · of the imaginative f{lcuHy. \
Akenside' s c.ontrlbution t,p the· development of the English
Romantic~ movement · is greater than the critics · have traqitionally . . .
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. acknowledged. While the sens1,1al appeal of Akens ide's poett;y ·maY, . . . \· , , , . • , , I •. , , '. ' . '• ' • o
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.leave ll)Och to, be desired,_ his poeti<;: doctrine 'was a significant ' . .. . . ... . ' ' .. ' ' . . . .. · '
early ~eaction against n~o-Classica~ · lite:t~rY convention. · . Th~. ' .
the.ory of aesthet:t.cs in The Pleasures of· Imagination ·,had speciaJ
s L.,;if i~snce · in ··an sge when all kinds b f ',. en~hu• iasm' \ were .anat h~ ... And.' ~enside IS Od~S > taken in their proper. COntext, m.a\ be Seen tO
r:epresent his dissatisfaction with the poetic creed o'f his age.
the fundamental inflQence_.W.hich Akenside had upon the theories and
practice of Wordswort}:l an.d Coleridge· atte,sts to his importance .~s .
a pre,cursor of Romanticism. '
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· · CHAPTER I:: . THE LEAS S o'F :.IMAGINATION: .TOWARD . A. · . RO IC THEORY OF AES.THETICS . ~ .... ',;' • · . ... ·•
Y· I - . - · · · · _:· ~: ,An_.-_ ~pol~gy for 'poeti~ eT;lthusniasm . • . \· . J . ' '• . . .
) •· .. · · ·.B:\ magi~ation ex~nerate·d·, and taste \-· een as an innate' ability .. • • •• . , . .I .
\ i · . , . . . \ ,. - . ' . THE ODE; : i'TOWARD ROMANTIC LYR,Ic·· EXPRESSION '
\\I .. . . . ,· ' .. ~! · . . .· ' . ' '' (' . ',. ~ CHAP~;E~ III ~ .. ' .AKE~~ IDE;\ S. I~FLUENCE _ ON WORDSWORTH AND.; . . ··~qi]' .... ~ · ...... · .. • · .... ,· .
'A': Wo dsworth ~ • • • . • • . • · •. I .
.t ·. :J \ . r~ . . •. I 1\ . . .· ,' . B: Col'eridge. • . • ~· ··• •
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.. . .CHAPTER II:
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-· CONCLUS.~ON •. · • ·
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BIBLIOGRAPHY. t • • •• . .. '.•, . Jr ..
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7 . ' '• ,, .. , .
/ r, the great ~mantic· poets is . . .
. .. ~
. . ·: Whil~ Akensldt)' s _ af_finity with
·. ?ge~~ra.lly recogniz~d by . t9-e .critics, the f~ll.l extent of . hf~ role
. .. I . I '
as · a precur~or of Romanticism remains · somewhat . controversial. Many ·' : . . .· . . . . . . \ . - . .. ! . . . . . . . . · .wr:I,ters have selected ,elemirnts . ;in. Akensi,de ~ s ; poetry ·wpich they .see
as pre-Roman_Eic • .• : .Otller~, ~~wever,. like' A.o./. ~dridge ', have warned·.
against any attempt to rep resent Akens ide a~ · "groping · in th~ d~rk .. . . . . . . . . . I . . . • , • for the Words.worthiari concept of imagination." l Literary
"under historians· find that ''it is.dif£icult to 'classify·~ensi~ . . . . ··/ .. . · ' . . ·. i ·.. . . · ·one or the other .convenient labels of· "neof'Classicist" or
,•' . "pre~
· . ~m~~t;ic ~.di. · For while h:i.s high regard •for /the writers of anti~u:i.ty . . I . '}- .
~uch of the sentiment and many . i .
'indicates Akensid~' 8 classicism, .· ~,.../ . I . . ' ~ ' . . .. . . .. ideas in his poetry may be seen. as ·slightly out of harmony ' . . ! . .. .
with . ' . ~ ' -
· ·• the·· literacy · doctrine and, .indeed~ the' general attitude of the 0, • ' ' ' \ I ' I ' ' o ' • ' •
. \ ..... neo- Classical · Age. ~ra Reynolds' sees ·many passages in 'Akenside' s :· ·
, \ ' ' ,I
e'
.Pleasures of Imagination as anticipating Wordswofth; . thus. she .. /
concludes that in Akensi.de's poem "we find a poetical creed which . .
so far as the thought is concerned, might come f rom The Excursion . 2 .
or The · Prel,ude~" Discussing hynolds' views . on Akenside, . ·c.A. 0
: · · 1 A.o: Aldridge,· "Ak.enside . ~nd Imagination," Studies in
1 •
Philology,. XLII (January'['1945) '. 792.
· 2Myra ~ynolds 1 The/Treatment of Nat~re in Engli~~ Poet ry: Between Pope ahd Wordsworth ( 19.09; rpt. New York: Gordian Press, Inc •. ~ · 19.66) .1. p ~ 127. · · · · ·
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' . Moore. asserts that "the ~ffe.ct .'of nature' on. the plastic mind of : .. "\ ··
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the child' is the only anticipation of <'I . - .
r .. ..
n.ine'teenth.;.'ceii tucy r,o~anti-1
I ... cists i~ ~hich h~ was . excepti~~~l. n 3 Another critic asserts that
-"rimch. in the .thought, or in chance phrase, in :the verse· of Words
"' · w9r'th an~· of C.ol~ridge, .·shows· [~ens ide.' s] influence·~. "4 - Many such
~ - - studies of eighteenth-century influence on the Romant-ic poets make
. occasional references ' to Akenside's Pleasures of .Imagination~ ·.
. ' •
' /
While . SUCh WOrkS point tO .. many paSSageS ln j.kenside IS poem Whic;h
~ay be ~een a~ . foreshadowing the work ~f the Romantic~; they tend •• ' •• • ... IJ • ~ •
I
to neglect the unity - ~= _the ¥ork. As a res~lt, the·. full · impact of .·
. -Ak'enside' s theory of aesthetics on eighteenth~century thought is ·
.· often missed.
·"' Another Wf!1Y in which the_- criticism regarding ~en..:
I · • I
. si;de' s contribution to Romanticism is inadequate.' is that it - has' . . ' •, , . I .
all but ""~eglected his importance ~s an ei,ghteenth:...century lydst.
An exarirl.nation -of _the poetics fn The Pleasures of Imagination,
.'alo~g with -~ consideni._ti.on o:f !J<.e~Side. ' s, lyric yez;se .as a sig?ifi-
. - \ . cant example; of eighteenth-century experimentation ~ith the ode'
.form, may demonstrate that his ·ro~e . as a precursor of Romanti.clsm
:i.s _greater than tnat· traditionally a~knowledged by · the critics. - · \
In re~ro~pect Akenside' s earliest published poems may be seen
as foreshadowing. an innovative and independent poetic career. He
3 ' " . ' • / I .
· Cecil Alb.ert Moore, Backgrounds of English Literature 1700-1760 (1953; rpt! New York: Octagon Books, 1969), p. 100', · ~
.4 . ·. . Mar-garet Sherwood, Un'dercurre'nts of -Influence i n ·English
Romantic. Poetry (cambridge, • }:tass.~: Harvard University Press, 1934), ' p. 85 • .
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:) ./ made. his H-~~rary __ de~ut~· it _t\)e . ag~ .:·of si~te~n ·, _ when he ,published
,/ ·in The Gent-leman 1 s Maga~ine :for · Ap.ril, 17 3J a · p~em .ent;l.-tle'd !!!fhe. '
Virtuoso, in · Imita~:ion.tf Spen~er~ 13 .StylE! -~~---~ta~z~. "~ 'By -vi~tue,. '. ' ' 'i : -
of this poem Akenside· has beeri -credited by Edmund Goss¢ with having ' ,_
. .- '6 revived the Spenserian' stanza. ·_"The Vir~uoso'' and several oth~r · ., • I
'- of ' his earliest compol3itiot1s! ~r~ significarit' in this 'regard· be~a~se . • • • , • • - • /. • • ~ • 1 • • ' ' •
.th~y. reflect . the influence of Spenser ·and. Milton on the young ·
A~im.side at a time when · the' order - 9f the . day was " to imitat.e · the · ·. · ,... ' e ·, • ' . . ' \ . . . · ..
Cla~sical ·w~iters of . 'Greec:e _ and Rmne:. As - a consequenc~, Ak~nside 1 s " . . . '
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•' ·•. 1 :_· : ·early poetiy portend:B greater accomplishments, itnd t his' augury of ' . . . . ,' ~ . ' _·. . . /: ..
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. ~,is .future-:-"achievement-~as · fU:lfille~ 'in The' Pte~sur~s of ~:Imagina:.. · · tion. --. ,,,
The Pleasures· of · Imaginati on was published in : p44 ~ when .
-. · Akenside ~as ju!3t t.;;e~ty-thre~ ye.ars old; and from all accounts I '• '
• I . , : I ' · ' ' , , \
' .Akens 'ide I a· didactic poell! was l:ecei ved with great acclaim.' . The 'fact ' . , . ' / . . . . . . I . . . .' ... · . . ' '
_that The Pleasures of Imagination was -followed by a numb'er of
. -s~roiiar poems' '·.including ·.Th~mas' Warton I 8: ;h-e . Ple-asures of I Mel art-•/ ' . ' . -' ' . . . '
'choly, ·atte.s ts to ·: the . inf luence whi~h Akens ide 1 ; poem had .on ot_he:r
w_riters ·in. the . eighteent~ centu!y • . R·.n; Haven~ stat es that "aside ' ·
' . I
from: t;he Essay on Man aiid . Nig~t · Thoughts the greatest and most ··
' ' 5 ',' ' . ·: ' - ' ' ' - ~ -' ' ' . -
,. See· A1exander-Dyce1s "Life .of .. Akenside," The Poetical Wo r ks · of Mark Ak'ens'ide (lldine eci. ; London, 1834) ,. p. ·ii. (Hereafter ·. referred-to .as .. Poetical Works, All refereii'ces to - -Akensid~' s ·poetry
are from ' th~s e,dit~on . ) ' •' . ,. . ' : ' '
~Ed~u~d Gqs~!'!, A-HistorY ~f Eighteenth-Ce~tury Li terature . . -(166D-~78Q,)' (1889; -rpt. New 'York: -~cMill~n. 1896), _.p; 3'11.
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· admirel:l philosophical·poem of the· century was Mark.Akenside' s I , . , . .J
. . . 7 .Pleasures o'f Imagination.·" : ~ny reasbns may !)e' · ~iven• for the
·• instant ~uccess· ~hich ~en~ ide's p~ein brought h"im.· ~e Pleasures
. of 'tmagination takes as it~ major premise the es.senti.al principle
of the · dei~tic religion ~li~h wail - so much in vogue at the tim~ •.
Akens ide's poem ii; also. a copious source of ethical, theologiclJl, . . . . . ·.
4
·ae"Sthetic. psy'chologic~l. -and philosophic~! vi~s. so that. it llad ., :- .. : I ; ·~ . ~ •• J. I .. . . ~ ' . .. ' ' / : .... . ' . ' . . ,0
• • .1 a ~ide appeal.· But probably the main reason for the .. great popu- · \ . . . ·.. . - ' / '
:larity of The Pleasures· of .Imaginatio~ is indicated by H.A • . ~eers . . ' ' ' ( ' \
· When he ' st'ateS that the poem IS 11 doctr:i.~e , ~, •' WaS ,in< harinony . with · . . ' . . . '
. ' ,. 8 . ·. the fresh impuise whTch_ was .,coming into English poetry. " ·
The first fifty lines of Th~ Pleasures of Imagination may 0 ~
convince the ·reader of its e~thusia~tic an{r~actionacy spirit. . / - . ,. - . The in-vo'c&t_i.oJ:\, :-for instance, is an outri~~t rej ecti?n of the neo- •
·~ . . ' ~lassical mistrust of the facult-y of imagination •. To lead his long'
, ., r. : t'rain of . in,spfrational ' pow~rs Akensi~e s~oris
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Indulgent Fancy! . from. the fruitfr.ll banks Of Avon, ·whence thy rosy fingers cull ,F"resh flowers and dews to sprinkle on _the ,\turf
";Where Shakespeare · lies. ·" (I, 10-13)
~ - . 'Akensi'de repudiat':s .' "dull ob~dience and, the. cur~ or'r~le~"- (I, ·.I •
• ,_ 1 '!)t{, ~
breath/. ':t-t\ist! . .fire 'the . 'chosen 34-5) , j arguing. tha~ ''~atu_re' s · kind~ing . I ' • . ' •I • '
-~ . 7Ray~o~d D. Ha~~n~; The Inf.l.uence o f Milton on English
Poetcy. (1~22; ·rpt.· New'·'Y·ork: Ru'sse.11 &. ·R~ssell, 1:961), p. 386. • ' ' ' ) n • ": ' ' ' ' ' < '
. 8 .. Henry A. Bee,rs, A .His tory of ·English .1 ROmanticism in the
Eighteenth CenturY (1898; rpt • . New. York: Gordian Press, , In~., 1966), p ~' . l40. ;
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. . g~n~,u~" (I, 37•8) _ • . He maintains that natural abitity .is· especially
ne~essacy, iri_ treating a subject such as ·'i:he -on~ · he has chosen. For . • y ..
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Akenside declares · that he intends to. ejq>lore ''Through secret paths - . . .... ~ .
erewJlile untrod . by· man, I ·Tne,. fair ·po~tic region" (I, 49-50.) of
. -mail' s mind. "The subject o"r The_ ·~le~sures' of · Imagination,: there- : . ,· ·. ' ...
fore .• iS _the human :mipd.', a : them~· ~~kh -Akenside . regards 'as "still
\ uns'ung"' (I;· 32) : po~~~ally. · In ·Ake~,side'~s view n~ture is ctlso a .. ~
"fair poetiC ~region, II aDd ~e· ittVOkeS. the :'Genii, II • .
· ·. · · • · ; who corilluct .The wanderin_g'·f~otsteps, ~,f the .youthful bard~
, ·New to your springs 'and shades; ·who touch his ear •, . With fine~- sounds; ·Who heighten to, his eye .
· ,The .' blO"O~ 'of 'Natu:;-'e, and he.f~re Mm turn · · lr -The .. gayes·t, . happiest attitudes of things.
· . · . , (r," 2~..:.30}
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I * . In. extend,lng· this invitation to the ,inspirational forces of nkt~re <!'_
Akenside ~is -decl~ring himself-to be• a "nat~rEi-enthusiast. 1' This . .• · . ( .. • I • •· .. . · ', "
· :is signifi'cant, for \n· keeping ~itqthe 'deist's' creeli, .natl.!re is
~~e mai~ authority to ,which Akenside appeals fl). ~he ~entral ' a~gu-----, - . . . ~
merii of·hi~ poem. .\·
Although nature ·m·ay be se·e~ to plll.y ·an l:mportant role in The . . --
·.
' Pleasures 0 f lmagina tion, . the major cox/cern ~f ~enside Is poem is ~
.-~not to •describe the :.a.~dsca~e. Those critics who condemn Aken\ide ' • f ' • • I '1.• • • ' ' • ... '.- • . I , . . . . ~ fo-r his ladk of detai~ed descriptioa ar·e ignoz:;i.ng the major -part
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9 of his plan • . ~· F.or The •Pleasures of ImJigfnation is prim~ri~y
-t' ' . . -'g • . . Heqry Tuckerman ,m~kes the obs~rvation that'.Akensid~' s •
"descriptions are vague. arid partake . more of thoughtf ul rever.ie than minute observation." . See "Mark"'Akens.ide," Southern ·:Literary. 'Messenger,;_ XIV" (1848) ~ 408~.' 5 . ' . . \ . .
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intended to be an exercise' in poe.Hcs. · · In its subject and purpose ' . . .
Akep.side' s poem ~~ m~re . ~los ely related . to P,ope Is Essay on Criti-·
dsm than it is to The Seas·ons, . to which The Pleasures of !magi-
.. ·nation is often 'compared. In hi~ poem Akensfde attempts to. resolve ''li .
. I
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a number of importan~ aesthetic questions of the' time:. .He is very
much ··concerned with the way in which man perceives\ his world·: And,
~s. the title .of th~~. indicate~, Th~ ~leasur~s o~ Im~gination ,_
is a p·oetical investig~tion into the psy.chology of the mental ' . . -
. facultieS!· , As he .treat~?. these significant issues, Akenside comes ;
\ . · ' under the influence · ~£ the ancient Greek and Roman poets a~d phil-
psophers; as .wei l as contemporary writers · such as Joseph Addison. ' , / ·. . .. . ·. 'But probably the mast· significant influence on .. Akenside' s argument
.· .· in The Pleas~res . of Imagination may be. trace'd to the .wrih'ngs o~f . . • • v~ •
. . . . . 10 the Earl of Shafte.sbury • . ~haftesbury'~ the~ry . . that man's mo.ral ·:
s~nse is a natural· endowment is the. basic assumption in Akenside '.s :
·argumemt. His · particular interPretation of Shaftesbury's idea' that . - . . .
good is identical to beautY- often approaches mysticism. As a . , f .
result, the .theory of . ae~thetic~ elaborated in)Th~ Pleasures ' of
" ·. Imagination may he seen as "a half-way- house to the realm of
\ .
· · Akens ide IS abandonment Of didaCtiC poetry after the COnsid
erable success th~t The Pleasures of Imagination b'rought him marked
10 ' . . . l . ' ·. . . . · Anthony, Earl of Shaf~es~ury, .Characteristics
Mariners,. Opinion's, Times, 5th ed. (London, . 1727).
1'1 ' . . Sherwood; p. Bi • ·.I
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;evising his. Pleasures of Imagit;_adon until-· his death~ all of .. ' ' . • ' \1' • ' ' . ' '
Akens :f. de's _fresh poetic endeavours after\ 1744 ~ere in · lyric verse;. · ' ' ' . ' ' ' ' \ . ' ' ' ' '•. _ ' . '
' ' ' ' \ · '- ' '· ' .. The first edition of. his Odes on Several Subjects. was publianed-in-
. .• ••• ,.It ' . \ • • • • '
1745, a'collection: which, according to A+e~~n~cr. Dye~, repres~nts ·
"the most va~uable accession which the ly:i~\oetry. ~f Eng~andhad .,, ' . 12 ' '\ . '
.. ·rec'eivedsince Dryden.'s .time." · Akenside's, pre!Occupation with ··,~,_
' .
I ' .
which · could not be treated .with propriety in the so-called '.'serious"
poetry in· 'his age. He was attempting to. find a _mo~~ s~bj_ective.
an(( imaginative poetic style' than a: poem such as The Pleasures o'f . • r • . •
Ima'ginatiori afforded 'him. .For Akenside; a!:\ for many _other ei~ht-
·eenth-cerlt~ry p~ets, t~e ode se~ved as a convenient form, enabling
him to circum,;.erit restriCt-ing con~entions~ G.N • .'Shuster •riotes ' . . ' . . ·, . .
. . ' . · ' . . ·, . . . • · · tl;tat during· the neo-;-Classical period "poets would hamstring them-
selves with 'rules' and thus use the ode as a _kind of device to . -· -- 13
raise thems~lves by their own' bootstraps." · . A study .of Akenside's . I .
lyric verse reveals that the ode· fcirm se~ved such· ·a function for
him. I I . . .
Many of his odes treat s~bjects that fto -not comply with the ' .
I rules of neo-Classical decorum. .Throughout Akerlside' s lyric verse ·
it is possible to detect a note of personal anguish. While seine '"
of his odes ·refle~·t his disappoi~tment regarding friendship and ,, ..
/.' 12 .
Poetical Works, P• .,,x'xxi. . , .
_, 13 . - ' . ' .
. George N • . Shuster, The English Ode .from Milton to -Keats (Gloucester , . Mass.: Peter Smith, · 1964), p·. 145 •.
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love~ · other$ ·rev_eai his .preoccupation with ~is own poetic diff_icul-• • ~ I '
hes." Akens'ide' s lyric ver'se:, therefore, · aside ~rom being :Very . ·•
' ' "'· . · ' ..:. ...
' ., personally_ r~vealing, . may 1a~so he seen. as · a .useful · c9~entary on .
. .i the ~o~tic dile~a ~hich ~11 · lyrists in. the -Ag~ _o;f~ ~as6n 'eJ{per-. . . ,
ienced. · :i~·b:Ls-.extensive ~xperim~ntation'with .the ode fo'rm Aken-
. . . . , . I # •
·side makes a ·considerable contrib~tion to the development of the
English .. ode. A~tempting to develop a more lyrical poetic -sty;J.e, :.
Akens ide is ·once again '19~king -f~rwarci to Romanticis\11• . , , t •
.· \
' , .. : .... The ultimate te'st of Akenside ~s significance as ' a precursor
' ' / i . . >' . \
of Romanticism is the degree i:.o which his. work_ influenced the g~eat . \ · \
Romantic poets. Aken~;Lde' s ~nticipation of pa~ts of the poetic \ ·.
theories of Wordswo~th and Cole;iJge lias . been recognized by man1y \
'critics • . In fact; William Halier claims . th.at in_ The Plea'sure~of
Imagination Akenside- p~esents "in crude form that theory of poetic ' . ' •' . - 14
functio~ later elaborated by Coleridge .and Wordsworth," . Words-~
wort~ and Coleridge bot~ view:d The Pleasures of Imagination as · ?
systemat:l:c .. and aut~orit_ative p~ilosophical poem. At any rate,
' . ~
there is ample evidence. to be found througho1,1t the ' poetry · and pros~.
of these Romantic poets to . support the :view that they were both
admirers of Akenside's work~ - Wordsworth's theory in The Prelude ... tregarding the natufill' sublime· may -be seen to owe ·a great deal _to
Akenside.·- Likewise, much of· the .moral ·philosoi?hY _in The Excursion
may be 'traced to The Pleasures of Imagination. Coleridge's debt .-. ·
14william ~al~~r: The ·Early Life of Robert Southey 1774-1803
(1917; · rpt. - ~ew York: . Oc~agon Books.- _1966), p. 108. ' '
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., si_onlai' borrowi'n~ . of an idea.
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,For in · The Pleasures of I~agination . · · .
me:y be .fo.und the very seeds of Col~ridge' s theocy .~f imagination. ,. :.· .. -- ' .. · ', ' _ .. ,, . '-.... '.' . _ ·
and fancy. The high esteem in ··wh~ch Wordswo.rth and Coleridge held - ·'
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.. Akenside' s poem _is ·significant·; for it · is an/~dicat-ion ~ th~ ·~ '• o ' o I • ' • : ' o > 0 o ',) o o O
inno.vative nature of· the th~ory of aestheti__cs·which it embodies. • Q ,
t . '
. \ .· "Like many o-f ' his contemporaries Akensidewas dissatisfied
, \ · with a ·. poetic .-cie~d which ~as i.~te11t: .. ~~ ~eeping poet.~: dev~id of \
· cr.'
•'' '
emotion, and imagination. under -stdct control. 11~s!=r.atgt 11 was.
undoubtedly the sh:i..bb.oleth of the ' neo-Class~cal poetic· creed; anc:~ ' . ' ' . ' .J .' . . \, !
-Akeriside found himself opposed to many of the 'more restricting . . ) . .. . . ' . (' '~- .
I . . . conventions 'of his day. Although he was. a Classicist ' by . education,
\ ' . .I his i~ve of the early. En.gli~~ . poets briught him to th~ realizati~ri ·
that im~ginatio.n is the suprem~ poe'tic ·faculty, . · Atte~pting t'~ : ·' .. '
ne1,1tr.alize the neo-Glassical ·mistru-st . of ·the . facu'ity of _imagina..: . • .
tion, Akenside place·d hit'nself · ·i ·n conflict with th~· literary doct~ine ·
of--his '-age; -· The . theory of · aes-thetics -in The Pleasures of . Imagi-
I
nation calls for more imaginative and emot~onal English poetry. .·
And 'in his odes AkensiM attempts to lead the way to a· mbre. lyrical _:• . · ' ' .' . . ;,) . . .
. , ,..-I; , . ,, . . , .
poetic· style. FromrJ,hi:s point of view, -Akensi~e made a ·consider-.,
able contr'fbut~on · to .t,he··mopeme17t in English poetcy known, as · RoJIIlln~ . .
ticism: .
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· -. CHAPTER -I ,_ .... _ . . ·.
. ' , , ·, • I ~--., 4 . •
THE. PLEASURES OF IMAGINATION: TOWARD A . , ' I I
,ROMANTIC THEORY OF ~STHETICS . . ·.
. ' . .. ,.
Akens ide '.a Pleasures of imagination' chalienged, many , cherished ' ' ., I ' ' ' .
kiterary conventions of his age • . Alth~ugh mos't of the issues' \thich
_·_ 'Ak,enside· treats in his poem ·had been examined by ph~losopher
·_aestheticians befor~. hi~, 'he manages to give new meanirig to ;time-· , . ' . . . . . ,-. . . . . . . . .
.WC?rn :l,deas •• _This is·'mainly the result of the deistic spirit which -~ ....... ·-.
·-pervades the entir,e argument,
1of his poem. · Taking as. his · basi~. ·.
premise the ' deistic prin~ipl~ - -o~ '1benevole~ce, ,.· Aken~lde . ~ttemp'ts • ,. '
. . . to demonstrate. to austere . a~herents of the neo-Class.ical poetic
doc.trine that enthusiasm for .beauty · is part of a divine plan. ·
~other ma:j or- concern· of Akens ide's. poem is . to answer t'!le ·_ charge • ·
·. that 'tlie faculty known as imagination, is a capricious and . dangerous
one. Making the -bold' asse·rtipn tl:Jat imagination, not ,reason as ' ,• ' • ' \'
the 7:ationalists claim, is the .. supreme mental power in man's search
:for ' truth, Akenside gives this ·faculty of mind divine af;filiation. · _, .
~ ~e :argues that fmagi~ation determines . taste, since it . is the mental
.facUlty which ' forms man' ti{ habits and even his moral
·, .
·, The Pleasu~es of ' Imagination, ther~fore; t.a~te is .. repres~
fn~ate ,' apili ty' : ··the I Se(dS Of ~~fC~ ~re giVen to' eaC~ ted _af! an . ··
~-
This claim ·is . si~ificant; for it foreshadows ·the t of taste . I
· as a. product of i~divi9ual; endowments. ·?-'he -_ parti cular
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,'. , ~ . \ · .. timely and si~ificant ·. theory of ·aesth!1tics. i · I .. ·
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· · : · A • . An aifb!ogy. :~~or poetic enthusiasm ' •I
' \'_. . .
The ~rgument . in~ The Pl~asures a'{ ImaSinarB.on/ that ~ature i~ . ~ · · . ·· .• \the outward expression o.f ·divine oBeauty may be seen .'ai .., impOrt"!'i
; -apology for poetic · enthusiasm in the eighteenth century. Ar:guing. ·
( . .\ tha~ beauty· in nat~~~ -~as mo.ral ~s -~~f~- ~ . Aest_hetic. v~lue, Akl!n-1 . • - . • • ' ' !' . .. ~..,.
..4./' ! :-side makes the significant claim that man's I • ' • . •
sea,rch for aesthe~ic. < . ~ . "''
! gratificat~on · invar/ably_ lea:ds him to truth. ·. This- ±s so because
' , . •, I ' ' ' • , _..
mim .ts endowed ·with a special faculty, imagination; which ~n~bles
him to detect the divinE( !Jembl!1Ilce in tb.e· natural worlq. · Akenside . .
mai,ntliins that ,since the :imaginative faculty is ffom th~ divine , ' . . . ~ .
whatever this power of mind p~rceives ,. as. beautiful will also b'e
- ~seful and good. 1 . Poets are~ espe,cially. justified. fn their . enthusiasm
for beauty ;.fo,r b-eing bles~ed with · extraordinary · imaginations, · they
are les's likely than other 'men to err in their aes.thetic .ju?gment: · .•
· ' By 'virtue- of ' imagination man is able to glean spiritu'al refreshment· .. . ' . . . \ .. . .· · .
. 'from th~ beautiful and sublime- aspectS' of' nat~re. ' This iftea that
' . ' ' . . God .r:eveals -·His g_oodness and wisdom to man through !lature,is a
. ; I ' .
deistic belief. N~ture in' The Pleasu~es of Imag:~ation, however,
. . . I . " . · ·is not only the worldly proof of the existence of ·a wise and bene:- .
volent pr~Vi-demc€, _but also · an irrefu,table authority .which .. sane- .: .·
tio.ns enthusiasm in li~e, . as _:well _ a~· in· art •. ·
. '' ' . · .. Although all men: are given access to · the_ beauty which exis.ts
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. ' in ·nature, provid!'!nce dec-ree;3 :that .each individu.:n··will ~-ercei:r.~ · -.:-·: . .-
the woild according to his ·own· interests and · aptitudes. ' Thus .some ~ J I ; • ' ' 0 • • ' ' ' •
I >
men> ~~e . ~'taught th.e ·fabric of ~he spher~,'' (I,. 86) whil~ ·others:_.· : - . . '
ar·e · eq~ip.ped with the. neces~ary s~ills to find ''Wh:a~ · heai"ing virtue ' . . - ..
. swells· the t~nder veins/ Of Mrbs and. Uowers 11 (I.- 9-2.:..94) • . TI,lere· I ·;
• f t. f
are' y'et a few men wh~m nature, . ·1 . .
-f • •• wrought,.and tempered with a purer ' ~o"these the .Sire Omnipot~nt - unfolds
. The ' world's !harmonious volume, there to
flame. , •
read . . . I. · · The .l:!x:~scdpt of Himself.
(I,' 98-101). . .
-T1lese fortunat~ lndivid~als who possess a more refined imaginatiOJl .
..:
I' than_ ordin_~ry meri ·are poets and pain'tE:!'rs-. 'J;he "fiq~r organs 11 ·of •, ·:
' . . '
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. ....
~ . . their minds have_ ~een made keenly rE7ceptive of ·~hose qualities · in
n~ture whi~h .11 the painter's.' hand.,/ The poet's tongue, confes~es-·
the . sublime' I .The won~erful·, the fair11 ~I, ~4-46). Here Akensid~-.
is .:echoing 'Joseph Addison, who . argues. that · a:J:l .obj e·ct~. ~hich: excite
-ov •. . ~he ima·gination belong to one or the· other of the. three classes of
grea~ness, ·nov~ity; a~d .be.auty. 1 Akenside th~n sets out to inves-
. ---~~ga_te ·the mysteri6us attraction wh~7h the
hold for the faculty of imagination:
. · Aftenside; ~ discourse . on the natural
three Addisonhn 4ro' . ' ·· } ,
sublime { :s · mairi~y in the
, t~1t::f:~n of .Longinus. Citing , the ancient rhetorician as hie . I .
- --~ . ' . ,,. . . 2 ' authority, ·Akenside asserts that man's interest in the vast. and '
'1 I • •
Spectator, · No. · 412 (June 23, . 1713) • . . •'
2 . . . · Poetical Works, p.· 66 (n. to 1. 152). . ..
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inf~nit~ i~ proof .'of ,his sou~ 1 s .i ,
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tality '<i:,: isl-:-74.)', · . ~kenside" · ·-.
sees man 1 s fascination ·.with · the · awe · nspiring natural spectacles ·· . ' ' J. . '·
. ' . aS an indicatiOn Of · the SOUl I 8 ItOb!' I ·; : .
. which 'consdtuted the' ·~atur~! .~ubli.
consis .~ed of · dreadful pr~cipices, . r
cliffs, all . ~,
~f which produced . I, . · .
. .. . 3 Horrour. 11
, : .This
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very ~uality
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may b
~spirations • . _. The material , . . .. '
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in. the .eighteenth :fentu~y : 11 : .·
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ring tor,r~nts{!n:d majestic . . ,
spectator a kind o_f "?elfghtful ,
seen in Ak'ensicj.e 1 s account o.f
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·the SQ:~l IS. qUeSt for . the • SUblime e ·erience: . •"'
·' The, high-born soul Disdains to rest her· ·heaven,,. aspiring wil).g . · Beneath its native ,quarry. Ti.r~d of earth , . .'
... · - ~. .. \ ._ .. . . ..
And 'thi$' diurnal scene, she springs aloft · .. Through :fiel.d·s of air; p·ursues · the fiyi~g·tstorm; Rides on the.vollied lightning through the heavens; .
- ~ Or, yoked .with whirlwinds and the no.rthern blast, . sweep~ the long tract of day~·
. I (I, 183-90)
I . .
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_- .'Like. ·many ·other ~igh~eenth-.c~nt~iy:aesth~tic~ans ,· .Ak'ens:i.d~ b~l~tv~s ' .
·: . .. . that through his perception. of those scenes in' nature which' "ev ke '· .
,;- . : fn · sensitive minds·· some. de~ree of the aw.e they feel for God Him-
·' . ·. .4 ' . . ' .. ·. . ·. I I .. ' . · self," man actually comes in contact with( the q~vine. Through .
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. his im·ag~n~tio~ 'man . ~-s : affo~d~d O·!!~~sio~~l \~-li~~es . o~ his "high
-~ewa-rd,..::... I The applauding s~l~ of He~ven" cr-, 165-66). ·In, the
'deistic belief that..:.God reve.als Himself through natur.e, may be seen
. ~· . ·J:
. ,·
" ·.~-.
· . .
- ' . ' .
- . . . 3 . . . . .. Samuel H~ Monk, The Sublime: A Study of Critic.al .Theories
in ·xvni_:Century England '.(Michfg~ : _University of Michigan Press~ . . .1962) t p. 207 ,'· . . . • . . .
.. 4 . . . · Marjorie Hope_ Nicolso.ri, Mountain Glool!l and Mo-untain Glo.ry': . . ·
The Development of the Aesthetics ·of .the Infinite .(New·York: .. w~w .• · Norton. _& Company; Inc·.-,-. 1963) •· ·p. 282 •
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·_. -_' th~ . begin~ings of ' the. ·m· s'~ical si~,ifica~ce .wliich nature l_leld' fo.r . I , , . . ,'1
the great Romantic poe.t • · Altho~gh Akenside adds little that is
~~w 'to . the eighte~~t;.h--~·Jntu~ concept . o~· ~h~ ' natural s~blim~.· his
, . ·l.'< ~s,sertiOn thstit ~'. the\ facult,' o~ i~aginat;'~n whit en~bl•O, ulsn
. · -,. t,o de_tect t.he di~-i~e-.in··rture is ~otewo~thy. Seen · in this.:J,.ight, -.
, .. ' .' _i_magi~at:l!on ~ an i~ mental power, for it is the· soul's . only
. : .. -,~/.'~- -- link with. tp~- i~finlte·.' ' feQce the great attraction w_hich th~
•:1: ' ~ _mB:jestic ~-pec~a·~~es . in nail ure. hold for' ~magbative indiYiduals.
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. . Akenside' s discuss! n of · the novel or wonderful in nature -1
\:\' ;: ' . ' .
reflects· his faith in the \deistic · principle of "benevolence. 11·
. . ()I·., 'I While_ t~e sub7~\e ~n ~at~~~e 1~ intended to foster m~n' ~- -~pi~itu~l development, th~: see~~!? _o~ i wonder enh_an~e ~is inteliec~ual _· growth'.~·
.-. Man is capable of .. attainin~ a "perfection half· div_ine". (I,'- 225)'; · - ~_.,_ ' I•
i ' ' and to aid him in achieving his .·high potential, providence endows
\ .. I \ . .
each individual ~~itli· ,-
I • · •• this desire Of objects new andl s'trange, ' t .o urge us ·on · "
·' ' ·· ·with unremitted labour to· pursue • : · Those . sacred store~ that wait the r .i!Utt{ing 'soul~
.. In · Tr~th 1 s exhausties_s bosom •. , - I .. ' !
'·, I . , .
- ~- - In this 'acat>urit . of the reason for man's fascination with th~· new, 'i "\. ~ ·~""'·'. - "
• • ~ ' I f . I ' ' ... ~ or. strange~ imagination becomes the key to his . d~'scovery o{ ·_truth . . ' ! '
; . . . , , . I - . . - . . , . · through intellect. · For. it ~s the imaginative faculty ¥hi~h gives
.' ' • • I ' ' ' •
'J , , I .•
man his . insatiable curios tty for _new experiences I • Hence' the youth . . • • • . • 1 • , _ 1,r .
· "Breaks ·from his w~eping mot he~' s anxlous ·aims, l In . 'foreign · cli~s ·. · . . . ~ . ' ·. ·• I -~~- . • . _.... ,, ~ • I •• • ' ' • • • • • ' • • •
. to ·x;ove" _(I,, 246~4 7) , and -~he _sage . "Hang~ ·. o '- ~-~ the sickly tape'ri~
(I, 249). 'that- it is by divine decree that ·man . . : )'
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· . .. · · - ~~inonst~a~e~ his' b~l:i.e.f ~h~t i~~i~t-ion, .b,e~~~ ~· God-giy.en factil~y, 0 .,
'. " . i . ,: !f. . ' . -:_- sho~l~. be allowed free 'play, _since ~h~s power. is vit~l to the·
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·:- . intcli~~t~al and spil:-itual d~~elopment or' the ind:tvidual.· . .
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As Akensid~ c:elebrates the · three "ill.ustrious o~ders" · it~;. his . . ' ·, . ~
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'. ·. poem, beauty is seen to 'play a very .significant' 'role in his th.eory: . . ' .
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I, . ' Wnile'. Akenside . ar8Ues · that ali three -orders ~re of divine origin, • '. ' . • • • '• ' • •. • • . :! ' . • •
.1\e hails bea~ty a~' the·· "Brightes ~ ·pro'geny of Heav~n '~ (I, 280). '· . . , .. ' . ' . . . '· .
. \
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Akenside tpakes the bo,ld assertion that b~au:ty ' has :Ln~rinsic value, ., . ' . . '
:'·· .. ·· .. 'a clBim . w~ich is ' in oppositio~ . to the g~n~~al 'at~itude of h~s .. age •. . ..
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The thiqry_ of aesthet=!-cs· in The Pleasures of Imaginatio'n is · there-.
f.ore' ·headed toward · Romanticism, which, according tci F_. P. ·chambers;
is.l·baaed on .a ':'philosophy o{ . be~uty. " 5 .·· BefQre . such· a philosophy . . . : · .
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'could . gain any amount 0~ resp_ect, ' however, . the fear . in ''the 'neo- . '
•' · . . · Claf!Sical Age that enthusiasm for beauty may be detrimental to · the
poet's s~arch , for truth, ~ould have to1 be dispelled • . . .. . I . .
.The deistic ·principle· of "henevoience" ·assut;"es Akenside · that '-c · . : ·ro
/
. whatever providence .makes' 'attra~tive in .l)a.ture . is· a1so useful and . . . . . . · , : ·.. • . - . . . . . . . ~ . I . . .
· ~bod. "tides Beauty. eve_r dei_gn' to dwell _wh~re health I And ?.'active.:... .. · -1
. , ·c , .
use are strangers?'l (I, 350-51), de~ands Akenside. .. .
In reply to .
this .rhetorical question Ake'nside argues· that, ... \. . . ' . '• I . ,.
··. The. genero.us glebe · -Wl}.~se bosom smiles with verdure, .the clear ·tract ·. :
5 ' . ' ' . . ,. . . . , .. . · Frank :P. Cnambers, - The HistorY of Taste: An A~~ount '·of
' _. ,,
· the· Revolutions Of Art Criticism and Theory in Europ-e (1932; rpt • . · · · . Westpor't, . Conn.:'!· Greenwood Press Publishers, 1971) , p. 163. :· · ...
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,·: ·Are _- only pledges of ·a state sincere • . . · . . .• ' . (I' ~64-6~}~\;t ... \:-~ ", I
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·The ·beneyolent·. Creator of ·the ·deists' · creed has provid~d .fo·r :..:m~' s• -.. . ~ ' ..
~-~_it~tu~i~ as -·~ell as for his ~h~~~cal .ne~ds ,~·~ Beau~y in n.ature1
therefo.re, bas : not ·o~ly _recrea'tionai value' but a1'so spiritual . · . .. .· . .. . . . . - - ~
. worth. By Sta.mPin~ · man·'s wo'r1d with beauty.'s. i'illustdous ima~·e_,"
facilitates his : chofce ' betw~en go~d . and ~vil:'
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. rn.· this dark world; for Truth arid :·Good are .~ne, . '··And Beauty· dwells in th~m and . th.ey' in her~ · · · With like partic:lp~t:i.pri.~ · , ·' ·: ·
' . 'I (I~ 3 72-7 7 6)
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Th~ . claiin made by Akens ide in .. t hese: lines ·. give{! . his theory special .
.: . impo~'t:. · . For if bea~ty ·in.J.the ·physical· realm is mysteriously . • ' . - . ' . . - . . ..
' , ' • • I • ~ l
c~~eciJ;:eci ~ith .truth,' then enthusiasm ~or b~auty has the ''sanction : . . . . . . . . . . . '· .' .
· . : c{f . divine decree, .· Beclnise' .of its adher~nce . to this doctrine of . . ·,
' /beauty' . truth·,: and goodness'· Akenside''.s theory of aesthet:i:cs tB.kes . ~ . ~ ,. ' .
on mystica;L _significance • . · . . , . - ~
of the . "sacred tri:d.," ~s·, it· is refe'rred .. · · ·. ·:.:. Although t.~ . do_o~r~ne
::
' ' . ' . 6 ' : . to ·by, .. F.P. Chambers; is · not . -. . . . .
. ' 'I . • .. '
original -in' Ak~nside ' · ,his Pleasures · of. . . . . ·). .
Imagination was ins trurilental in pop·ul~.riz:i.ng ·the . theoi'y -in the, - ,
eighteenth" c~~ttiry. 7 •, Akens ide ·. ci te·s ·· the ancients aiong with . . - ~ . . . . ' - .
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· ·emphasize -,the doctrine 'qf. the identity of trllth and · be~uty·, 1' · · . . p~~ 127.-' . . -: . . . . . . .
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·take's on ·a aignificimce th.a~ .. h did. not hold fo~ · 's.h'if~e.~bur~~~ who': .'. : .. ·
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.. Tlu~ doctrine '?f beauty, truth, and goodness .. ~s it ~~p~ars ' in· th'ese ·. ,_- ·. · ·,, . . · . . . ' . . : .. . . . . ~- ,, ' ' ' .'
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lines. is ·merely 'the. neo-Classical· view that beauty is eharact~rize~--. . . .. ·.
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is inherent ·i_n· the .' th~~ry- · as. it . is 'rep_resen:ted in Ttu~ . Pl~a\ures . of.-·
,_ . ,: ~ . , Imagination. ' Akenside b.ase!'l ··his faith · in tge validity. of the. ·
. do~ trine . of the . sac.~~d t;i:-iad . ori 'the.;deiStic.,belief . that: "it .was: a:
·· .' ... f .. benev~~ent~d~si~ in -~ature t~- annex · s~· delightfu~ .. a ~e~s.ai:i·o~/~ · _ ::.· .... those _objects ·whic~ _are . b.est and most perfect in themselves." . ' . .
: . This assertion 'that beauty in t:hi:naturai. ·world .. ~el:'alds· 1
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Ak~~side iss_~~·s.· ~ l~~E,!_rice for . the· poetic··. indul gence-in . I
the . be~utiful .image for. its ·own sake, ' Beauty,. Akens ide believ~s, . • • . 1, , ( ... '
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· .8Pol! ti ca~· Works, pp, '.
.. 68~9 ' (~. --···to. ·1 .. ~7.M ~· > .. · · ·· . ·: · .· . . . . . ~ · . ... ·· . .
. :-· . . tt . . ' ' . • \~,~- • l •
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. . ' · · Thee Beauty·, thee, ._ (·.· ·. Th!i! reg.al ·dome, and_thy· enlivening r~y · .;
. . · . . . The mossy'· roofs· adore:>.thou .better: sun!
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· · · · I .· . . . (I, "27?-:-~0) · . : -· · -a · · •• . . . • I. : ~. ·. ,.,· ...
. The~e' }ines reve~l Akensfde.''s .ow :· parti'ality for the sep~'ua~ . imB:ge' .·, .. '
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'; i~ p4t~. ' Aken~ide' bel~eves tfl~t a true _and ·.,divinely sanctio~e·~"- · . ·. ~ Q, .
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·' t~stef i~ 'on~ which r~cogni'zes . the re~ v~iue of .be~ty ·l~ _ nian'~ .< .I· . . . . . . ·: ·wortk, · since the .. w~se·· and 'be~evolent ·creator "~ad~ ·_ us to· pehcild' ... . . . ;. ·_. . :. ' . : . . . ' : ' . .· ' . ~ ' .
ail.d:love /What ·he behords and loves" _(III, 626-27). • I :, • • • ' • ' • ' _ , ' ' ' • ,
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A _J!Ulj o_r ·c·oricern of ·The :P'!e'asures·· .:of Imagiria'tion-is ·to. · ~emov~ · · . · .. .: ·
: :, .. . ·'.: ~ ' "'
... t~e feai: tha;:~ the pOe~ IS l0VE7 0e b.e.auty ' iS ' det~imen:tal tO hiE! :seardh . :,I
. . ~ . .. ,. , , . /
for truth~~ .. Ac~ordin~· _to · ~he deists' · cre-:d? it is no·t the de_;:dgn · .. ' • .
. . , · :'/ of P.royf?Em~e. that man's iife should be devoid ·of · pleasur~. Aken- I. ·',
·. ' • • I'• , · ,
. ' . s:i.de I 8 .. intent~on t t~ier_:efore, is to- disp~l ·the phi losophy of. gloOID: . . ...
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which . ad~OC~tes· 5\l.Ch Bn a'scetfc exi~tence :' 1
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Could' iny ambitio'us . han,d entwine a wreat.h Of Plato's olive .w;l,th the Man~uan o_ay ," · .
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Then should my powerful ·voice at : once dispel.' Those monkish . horr~rs: then:; in · light . divine.,-: Disclos.e the Eiysian .. prospect, where the steps .. ·
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·. · walks., ; . : · · f ' . . -.· o .
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.. · Thro~gh .fragrant mountains t and"poetic -~tr!'!ams ,. . . '-. Amid the trirln of .sages , ·heroes,. /bards., · ·' ..
' LJj~ d by their-winged .~nius '~nd t~~" choir · Of l l;lure11ed science and harmoni~us art, ·
. . • t •• f • •
.Proceed: exulting to the · eter:nal./ shrine,- . _ - · '.· ·. 'Where Truth, ·enthroned . with · her' celesti al ·twins,' ·
• ; .~ Tit~ undi,V,'id_ed- pa_i-tner~l; of her .sl\'ay, " . . -· Wi~h gl)od · and be~ty ref gns. 1 .
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sigriifi,can.t' because it is a statement of Akens ide's ·r
-~
.poetic ~ask. The p'rece~:i.ng lines ' are.' a typical" ma~ifestat::i.on 'of
Ake~side's att.empi: thro'ughout The Pleasures of Imagination to
recon~ile his own "en.thusiasm" wi.th his classical heritage. The . . .
. .- concern in the ~ge_ fOr objectiv~ity imd respec'tability resulted in ,. . ,.'
a _literaiy doctrine~hic~. had' no place for imagin~tion o~ · emotion.
According to H. A; Beers', the literature · of -the period is charac.-. . . I , ,. .• . . 't.! .
terized by "its coldness o~ feeling,_ the tameness of _its imagina- . . 11
tion', and its ·narrow ·and imperfect sense 'of beauty. II Akenside ' • o o I
is averse. to a · poetic creed· which is intent c;>n oppressing ~ancy - . ' . . I -. ,
and k~eping poetry devoid ~t feeling-. : Hi~ impatience with ··this
·kind of austerity in the literary doctrine of his age may be ;;.·
detected in the following lines:
On my strain, . 1
Perhaps even now, some cold;~,. fastidious · judge ) . ,
Casts a disdainful eye; and calls my toil, · And calls _ the lov~ and be\uty ' which I sing; · The dream of folly. ·. . . ·
·. . (III, '443-47)
.,- .,,
Aken13ide 1 s . castigation of this more severe .neo-Classi,cal critic is
an· indication· of his disapproval of the narrow literary doctrine
of 'his _age. Also in the~e lines one . may detect the poet~s . concern
th~t his the.ory of. aesthetics will be received with contempt. For , , I , , ,
Akenside 1 s attempt to justify sensuality in poetry is_ a grave
·breach of decorum in the Age of Reason. Akenside ~s not suggesting, . -
howev·er·, that poe.ts should pursue _ beauty at the· expense of truth;
11 -Beers, p. 43~.
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rather, he· is attempting ·to demonstrate that a gen~ine .taste.' .is -
one. which recpgnizes· that. beauty .and truth are identical; For he ' .. . ' . ,.
warns that if you attempt to, find beauty with9ut also .·making truth
' " -· : ' your, goal, ·."Beauty withers· in your',;did e1Jlbrace" (I, 384) · • . Wh'ne .·
'Akensfde' ~ theory of aesthe.tics calls for more .' ~anciful poetry, . . it ....... ' ' .o
· aiso reflects the beiie.f that. "~ civiiizati-on which ••• disto.rts · ...
or ignores what' is truec:_,will probably also place a false .yalue .on ' . 'li . . . . . . . .
~ - whdt is beautiful:" · A cultivated taste is the only assurance l
that poets' ~ill not' be misled in their. search fo'r 'beauty.' It is
with · a ·v:l,.ew to demonstrating the distinctive. characteristics of a ..
· · true taste · that Akenside introduces the allegory ,which .constitutes ·' . . '
. ..
: .,
\ two-thirds' 'of -~he second Book of his poem. On -its mo11t obvious
l·evel of· meaning this allegory is concerned with. jus tifyirig the
. existence of evil in tbe "best of a'n ;p_ossil?le w<;>rlds11 of the . . • '
..
p • ' '
optimist:s. It ·may ~lso be ' read~· however;' as··.-a symboiic ....-account of ' . . . . . . . ' ·
I 13 · the growth of· a 'genuine poetic taste.
The .allegory of Harmodius· is a restatement .9f Akens ide Is .
faith _in the validity of the do~trine of bea-~ty, truth, and good;_· . . . . ' . q; 1 •
ness. The he~o of the allegory, man in his "prim~ val seat" (Ii, I
12 John Francis Norton, "A Critical Edition of 1 The Pleasures of Imagination' (1744) ·by Mark Akenside" (Ph.D .. dissertation, · Uni~ePsity o~ Pennsylvania, 196.7); ·P· .. _36•
13 . . . ' . . . . . . · Cornelius -A. Silber argues . that "-if the . herci ,1of the allegory
· becomes finally an imag'inative man, then the entire allegory asks·_ to be read as an account of· the education pa-rticularly of the ·poet· •. w
. See "Akenside' s !The Pleasures of Ima.gination 1: Text · and Meaning"
(Ph.D. dissertat:!.on·; Univ~rsity of Toron~o, 1972), p~ ·.us.
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· t~e .goqd~·ss _Vi~~~~;_. giving ·,a.ll 'hfs · at'ien:t~o'n to_ E~~h~os~n~ /' th~- · ·
godde~s · . q(·pleainire. ·(ii,' 4S8-:-64) •· With · the -advent of the ·"fiend .·:
·abhorred" (II, 485) into. his ~o1;ld ~ . how~'\l:er, the; .hero comes to . ' . '. .• . . . ' ' . . . . .~ ..
recognize the·. t.ru~ · .Wort!\ of. virtue· •. ···The hero has -learried · that · t _he
· .·pursuit' of be-~uty without· the .aid of virtue is in' violation·· ~f . ' -:: . .. : ·. ' . ' \ . . . . . . . '. . ' . . : . . '.·
divine 'iaW.~ : He· therefore" beseech-es the· · ~ubii~ goddes's: ' . · . . "i .
· .. :·
·: . . ... . . · · ·. · . ~- ·oil! .·be t~ou .fci_iever nea_r_,
.. ·• That I may listen to thy sacred voice, . And g'uide; · by: thy decr:ees; :my constant feet.· .. . . ·,., :
. · . . . · . ' .. • ' .
. ~.. . . '. . .· · .• : . !,) . . . - . . ,· . . (II~. 6·18-20) . , . . '
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. The' hero of the allegory r'ecognizes his mistake in separating the '·;:_ .. •.
., ·goddess o~ virtue . from "~h~ fair Euphro~yhe, '" Akenside considers · . .
· .· · · .·this lesson ·to· be a ·vifal one ':for pO.ets, since the pursuit of :: . . ~
trut:h is 'the pri_mary. conc~rn· of tnefr ~rt •• ~ut the deists'• . cre-ed
provides grou~ds . f~r 'hi~ . belie(th~t the iove of: .bea~ty is int~nded . . · ·. · . . . . . I .
by b'enevolent providence· to _enhanc.e man's . sear:ch . for trutl},'- Thus ·· . ·-·
· we 'are· inst.'i.uci:ed · by the"Ge~ius ·of -hum~n kind"· in the:....all'egocy: ·.\ ; ..
g .~ : · • ·· •• ·behold the way~ Of Heave.n' s eternal. des tiny ,to· man,.· ' ..
• ' ' <I -·For ever "just,- -b-enevolen.t, and wise:· ..
.. ; ,· _ ; · That Virtue Is awful: steps. howe I er .pursued .
By · vexi~g . fortune and in:trusi ve · pain, · . .,; · :
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. Should never .be -divided 'from }lrer· chaste1 · '· ·He.r fa~r attendC)P-t, Pleasure.
(II, .670-:-76) . . . .
· A ta~te whichAegle.cts·beauty is as 'false _as ot1e which fails to ·_. . ' . ' ' . '
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' .' · .. to creafe. th.e ·b.ea~t'iful ,image, . therefo~~ ~: tJ!e poet: ?CtS .in f~U . • . ,.. ·• . ·' : • ' . . \ . . . ! . ·' ' : · . . ~ :-
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. Ak~nside's . c'Ia.~sical e'ducadon had -:i.ns-tilied .in ,' hi~ --the . id~a: . . . ' . ' '· . . . . . . . . . . . .·' . . ~ . . ' . . . .
· ;that .·th~ ·;o~t-, ~ · fir~t otilig~ti~·n -i'~ 'the·. puis~-~t - of 'trut:h·,, · B~t .hi_s· · ·. . . -- . . . ' . · . . _, i' . . . . ' . . ... . ·, . ' . .
16:'~ · of· ·~he_ early English poets' 'ie_d '<Ak~nsi.~e to -die realizati_on . . :'· , .
' · · .· ~hat · 'imagination .is .the life-force of al(poetr)r. " F:i.nding 'himseif. • . ' ' . J . • • • · . • •. •• ... • .- -: ·· • • • - • • . •
in··-~n -~~e\~ich regarded all ~inds oi' enth~sia~m ·.as anathe~, 14 . " . ' i _.. \._ . .
.. . :· Akens.ide felt the; ~eed to 'reconcile. his more . 1'r?mantic" poetic ·: · .
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;. professes . complete faith fn'' th~ abil:f.'ty of ·~an ·' B aesthetic faculty ' '• . •. . . . . - . ·. ·i. . ' , · ·. . ' ' . • • . . ' : · •. ·
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·. ' :, 'Inlagination exonerated. and t~s:te . seen . ,,
· · -as ·;im iQ.nate ·~bilfty -B. . . : ... : .~ . ...
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al'l' the passiops, and mixes -with alm6st ev.ecy . circulllStance· of'· •' ' ' I ' ' I • • ' o ' '
.. P-r~~eeaing ?n. the premise :th.at; "im.aginat_ion di1;~cts ·al~.st
·:'· · ··' ' ·. · .. .. .. ·. :·.
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· Akens:i9,e argues that. this 'fac.ul.ty ·is ~~preme. _This view ... ' ..
.' ·. , 14~1oili&m iy~~~hel~O •• .,;, thRt the life-view of the .J, o£ ·
.Reason~ "with its · absence ·of. spontaneous . enthusia'snf ·and reli-gious ,;· ..
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· ,imagination~ must . never b,e 'forgotten in the'·. study of ' contemporary ~ . ' . . ," .. ~ .. · .literature~" ·Se.e The -Beginnings of 'the English· Romantic Movement~ -. . . ·:--:: .. ' . , • ' ..
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· . . 'A Study in Eighteeiltho:-Ceritury :(.iterature ·(Boston: Ginn and! .G~mpany ," " · : . ·. : 1893), P•. S.~ . . . . . . . . . ·. <! · ·. . . ·
15 ' '. . . . · . Poetical · Works, p. 74.
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i's ·in s.trong oppos:i ti~n t~. ·the neo-ciassi·cal..·at.titude : toward im~gi~ :· · ~~-. ~ . . : . ' ' ' .' . . ' ( ' . . -. . ~ • c . .
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"lead the po~t .away · fr~m the
nation. :. Philos~·phe:t's . in. ·the ' , . . . . . : ·· . . ·•
.. ·· :promiscu~~s .f~6_ult;, -.wh~ch' could . ·.·-' · ·• . ' ' . . ' . 16
'. pursuit· of nat-ure into the improbable and unnatural." : While ·.·· . ' . . ..
Ake~si·de agr:ees 'with the belief th~i: ' fancy has a great influence . ',• . . . ,· - ' ' . . ' . . . .··. _- ._ ·-,-. . ·o~ m"oral decisions: a~d .a~!=io~s~· he· shares .non~ of th~ appreh~nsion
. . ·' ' . . : '
of · the 'neo-Classical philosophers regarding· the --danger ·9f the
~acult}". The r~tional:ists_ prop~sed
. ~ keep ·imagiiuit.ioli at all . times ' under
that the ~only. solution· was tci '' · ' · ~· . . ,
. . ·:
' I ' ' ' ' /
the ·st~ict control of rea.Son. :
In. ·Akens:i.de' s view, howev:er~ such a · .·proposal is s'ensel~ss. , . ~·.ince_ . · ..
he ~elfev:.&~att, 1 S r'~aso~ or ·_·j)..tci_~nt tO bE< ad~a~ly .shap-e~ by: l;ii~
imagination. .': .• . .
. . Nowhere i{\ The Pleasures 'of ·rm'ag.ination doeS! . Akens ide .express . . . . ' . . ' .: ' ' • ' . ! ~ ' : . ' •. ' . .
the ·belief that ~ancy :shquld .be rest;ained by reason. ':-In Hteplr_Y ,·
: . matters ·, as ~.o~ Aldridge obseFves, Ake~side_ issues ' absolutely no < .. . ' . .. . ' . 17
. . · vt~rning agains-t fancy'.. In fact, there. i~ the assumption .in .. . \ '
. -Akensfde ''s poem 'that reason, the supreme fa.:;.ulty of 'tli'e ration...: · . .
al~sts, i~actually · subs'ervient to i~gination. Reason, · argues . : . ·
· Akenside, ·.is entirely helpless when, ·. . ' . .
, .I
' ·
. ~- . . . . tram the enchanting cup
Wh1fh Fancy. hold~ to all, the unwizy thirst . Of youth oft swallows a Circaean draught, · That \ sheds a baleful .. tinc.t.ure o'er the eye :·
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16 ·r · · · .. · · : · · : · ·· • . . . . Donald F. Bond; "Distrust of the Imagination in English:
.. Neo-:Cl.assicism," Philological Quart erly, .xrv (January ~ 1935), 65. ·.
. · · . .
17 - . ' ' Aldridge,- ."Ak~nside and Imagi nation," .P• ']80.
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Of Reason,: tiil nq longer he· ·discerns; And oldy., guides to err. . . ' .
· (;III ,i46~5l)
The _.idea _expre~sed in .- these .ii~~~, ' . -
reason is that tfe fac~lty of ·.c~pabie of erring, is' heretical in. the Age of Reason . . ~ut 'Akenside
.b~l-i'eves that · ~- lndividual.~s judgment is only as .good as t}:le
edtica~ion and ~ult.ure which. nurture it. To ensure that man Is moral
. deve-lopment is not: thwarte~ by ~alse representations ~f .his fancy; !· ·
. : .til ere is c1early1 only . one solution in Akens ide's vi~w. When fancy , .
. . ,i'!J· srained to perceive in ' things ."The features which they wore · I
:· ··
' '
rn· nature;· there . Opinion will be true, I And :Action right" (III, . : -b . .
,18-23}-. ~ile ·Akenside l>elieves that -imagination . does . ruie ·man's ..
qabits and decisions:, he does not believe thai: the faculty should • • • • t •
'be repressed. · As a G<;>_d...:given power .of'.mind·,· imagination, ~f
pro~eily cultivated, can enhance man's spiritual growth. · We .ha~e . ,.. . ' . . ' . ' '
' s'een that a true tas'te for; Akens ide is one ' which recognizes ' the
connection between b~~mty and truth; and a true ' taste is · un~istak- '
able pr~of .of a fi~ely cultivateci ·-_imagination. .According to the ' . ' . . ' '. · . .
. l!lain prin'ciples of deism, man is lacking in noth~ng necessary ·for
his physical and spirftual growth. Imagination is the faculty
' . Which COUt.rOlS,· man I 8 moral deciSiOnS aS Well aS hi's aesthetiC
·-judgment •. But i n· order that man may have "fre~ will11 r e gardi ng . ' '
his moral development, provide.nce decrees that he be · res ponsible
·. for ·the early shaping of his 6~ · faculti es, so that they _may serve
·,
• .
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Akenside -- ~q,es not insist upon t-the antithesi s - o·f imaginatio~
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. 25
. i ·; :·.... . . :. ·. ' ' . . . . ·. an'd, teaSOO: rathe"f: .. he Se.eS bqth·' ~S indispensable powers I . each ,. . ',\
' . ' . . . . . . -
,. ~- ,. se~v-in& it)· its .. ;~r(~espect~~e · :~aEac~ty~ · - ~ont.iar;_ to cont.emparari .. , . ': . . . ' . "'··
.... · vie'!"s. 'reg~rding . th~\ps)/choipgj of .~he mental faculties, .AkenS!idf. . . . .
ar~m~s .that reason.'has .' i'ts )ilnits • . He regards ·the: faculty vecy· . . . ' . · highly 'in :its. own :~~alm, · but ~e 'sees i~I1aginati~n ~s 'ii~fng.1 c~p~ble
~ • 1 •
of .detecting truth wh~r~; the faculty q,f : reason is ineffectua;l. ., · .. .
. . ' . Re~son, Akenside . arg'ues, is· assigned by · \'Cr:eative Wis.dom" to such .
. I· . , \ '. \ . . · . '
tasks as "Dis.cernirig justice: from unequal\ pee.ds, I And tempe ·ranc~ · \ ' . . ., . ·,. . . '\.. .. .... :.-::,.. . . , . · .
. : f~9m folly" ·(I, 542.:.'3). . Reason, · therefore ;'_A:s . a useful hculty ·in ; .. .
. ~.; ' . >
· .'
.:r •• ' • • - . ·' • ~ .~.'· • • •
t.he; normal . a~fairs .of every. day living~ But the wise and ben.evo-.: '~ . '
leni: ,providence is conscious of man's n~ed for:· guidance in . the , ....
'spiritual realm"' ~\so, so thllt, -- .-
. . . ,.
. .. "\ •
'·,
., • . • . • beyond
This energy· of Truth, whose dictates . bind . ·· Assenting reason; the . benignant sire, ' . • To deck .the honoured path~ · of just· and good,' . . ,. . .
· Has added bright Iniag~nation' s -rays:. . : · . Whe:re ·virtue; rising. from t~e awful · depth . .-·
. . .·Of Truth's myster-ious bosom, d,eth forsake The i.madoi:ned condition of her birth; .· ~d,dressed by . Fa~.- cy i-q. ten· thousand hues, Assumes a variotls featlkre, to· atttact,
. ·With· .chams respons.ive lto ·each gazer's eye·.._: · : ·
T.·he. he_art\_ ... oof.1
_ men_ .. •.. · ~ . '(I, 543-:-54) ·· .
' . .
Exper~erices which · have a posit~ve . mo~al ·value 'may prese11t ~hem- .
);elve~ · in . many forins'!' . .:..another· example' o.f 'the wi~dom .·of pro~id~nce· .. . . . . ' . . . .·
. . . . . . . Akens! de b~lieV!'!S·. For the man . wqo' is reluctant- to ' embrace . truth .
•1 ,for ' its· own ·sake is in~ariably led to appredat.e · it~ -value. by : . •. . ' . . . .
)'
his iihagiriation~ . The mystical: significance which -Ak.enside
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, '. ~ive.• iooginatio: in the' pre~~ding ~magO andcipat~:~~~.::~:<~>/0
. ·' ·.· . .. . . . , ..
,' ·.· ... "" ... · . :.
/ • ·.··•· .. . I"•" ' .'woo\ " • •,"'•.' •" •
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concept · of tli~>faculty; :.- The ' great Romantic poets ·believed "that ' , • t • • :·:;;/~~;~. ' • , : • ' ' ' · ~ ' ' • • ' ' ' • ' ' I
t ·he ·true ' ~~~lidge ,,of the spi;rltual world ' was .. granted.·to ~ ~--- ·~ ·- the."._, · •' ' . ' . . . . . . ·. '
. .. . . ,' ·.' . 18
faculty. of i_magination.'·~ . ~~ke~ise, for. Akens ide;. 'imagi nation ·- is . .....
. In The Pleasures of '·'
\ ... ' ·, . . . . . .· -Imagination· the 'imaginative faculty .i
' ,. ' . . I ' , ,
~~rely ' a .power which.' . . . ' . . . · .. '/ ,
enables the poet to dress · his. poetic judgment, in lively imager)'_; ' • • ' ' ' , , I , f '
rather it iS, as :i.t was . for . the ~antic poet;s, ~ special type· of
• ~ndol>t.'r9 - It ish this spir;th~O~g~~ut his ::po~~ thdt Ak~ns~d~ - .. :
' · ~xalt.s. t;e,-, _hcu~t~ of : im~gi~a~on ; to diVine: height: .·b . ~~s ·revolu-:- . ·: ~ .. : _ ·. '''
. tionary f"ncept ~f, imagi•t;6n rids•~. ·~ important . quOotion ·fo< .·: .. \' •'• . .
. ,. ' .
~ensi~~ when he' -~o~es _to/x~ine it~ . r~le ~Jr~~~ a:_tistic -_~reat~_on •. ' . . . .. ...
Ak~~sid~ . demc:>1.7r.a es that he i _s dissatiff~-~ with th,e - ._vf~ .,. . .
.. · j that· imagination de en ~ . upon .the, laws ' of assoclati~n : in ordei ~ci . . ! , .. , .
.. .. _·create. ·The poet's tend~ncy. "to -- behold in. lifeies_s things, · I ·The . . ' . -/ \
· ·. ineXl'ressive sembi£~~e of· ·h~mself'~ (III~·- 2Stf-5) lea'ds ~~~side to .' . · . . . -.: .. ~.:.) - . ~ -- . .
• 1 . ' (• • •. '.
•·po_n_der:· .· · , . . -/
\ ' r . , • \ , ·: . · . ·• • I , i .'· , <' When~e 'is this eff:'Ct t // • '
·/ 1 .
: ., . __ .;, Thi kindred · power 'of such dis cord ant •. things? .- · / .-. orj flows . t~eif/ s~mbla,nce "from ,that . inysti~ tone ..... To which the ··new-bo'rn nrl,nd 1
S ; harmonious· powers.:· . . ., . .' first; were: strung? Or rather from the links' i;c_~ . ar~ful_- · c~stom twines around her . fram~-{ .
· . . (III, ~0'6-11)
' . : ' : ... · 1 • •
..... ·
: :
/" . true .'that Akenside does not ~laim 9'eative ability .for . :_ .
'· ·.' . .' . .~- -.:
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. . '
t • '
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'in tnese lines, it is -.~igri:lfican.t th.at he poses this ·. ,_· ' '
.- ·.: ,, .· ..
·,, ' ; · " •: .·
:~ .
18' ·.··. ·;· · :· ~hambers, p~· 1~9< . . ·.. _
1. ·. . . ,
:r ·
. _ , ~9~~e c:M. BQwr~·~ -~~ .'~~ant~/r~asin~tion (i949 ;· ~t~ New .· · ,, .· . ·_; -. Yo~k:, :Oxforq. · unive;-.sity . Press,·" l9 '6), p! .' 7. · " · :.-- - -· .. . . ,. . .
. ·-~.:_1. . . . ~ .. 1. • • '• '.
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of· the. Lockian tradition maintained that imaginat~o~ _::i.~" -~~i'e'~y a
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. · ~~~- of memo~-~~h rec~Us ~:~evio~S!iY co~nec~ed '~mages • . : Th~:--. ' . . l'
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· . · b~t ·t~e~e .i's · eyid~~c~to ·iiidicate t~at ;·Akenside 'do~s· n6t accept: . . . ' ;...-----~ .. . -· • ' . .. .
.- .. •.
l . ~ _ _. : I . . •, l
• . . , ' I . -.· i . ~s>of ~th~. ~ssoc~~-tio~~s. ~B; . -~~ ~lin~s he ~~~ms -~ to be - in·.~ ·· ' I ( · . .-_- . ' . J I ..
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- agreenierit 'with . pa~ts qf the ' 'ass~c:lationist~' theocy., while :at ' . . ·.·- . . . • . ' • . . • - • . ·• • . • ' • 1 .. ' . • .~ ·. . ~ • ·_ . - • ~ ' ' - : . ' • ' •
. others he clearly · decides-. in · flivour . of the creating theory.. AI(en:.. · · . . . . - ' ·f. , . . . ' . . . . • . . . . - ' '
J • • • '\, '
s~de. states · thatwh~n images are "~'y chanc~ . ~ombi~ed" . (:(n, _ 3i3),'. . . . • . . . I
.cert~i~ · ide.as al:~ ~i'\7~~ ~'an eternai i:.ie, ·f ~~ sy~athy .unbr~ken" .. ·
- . (III, 317-1~)! He is. , h!'!.t.:~ echolng . : . . . . . 21
iri which habits are formed~ . ·
John Locke's ·account · of . the way. · ·' ... .
(. . . A few lines further .. _on, however,
.~e~~~de.' s , ~rg~ent ·may 'be seen as an adv~cell!ent .~.f the· cre~ting ' - , I ',
'• ~ ', I ~ '
. ~· -~ - .\ . '
:. :_ the~cy ,of imagin,ati~n: . -~ . . . / '
I . - . ·; .
. ' ' · _ .. · .. ' ' '\ . ' . .
, ••• if ·ancient 'fame --the · truth· unfold, · , ., I Two : :faitnftil -.rieedles~ from . the 'iP,form:irig touch.·
. ~f the' -same _: parent stone·, \ tc>'gether- drew.
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,. Its mystic vir~_ue, · and at · fi'r~t conspired, , • ,
. with ~fatal impulse' quivering to the · pole.: . . . -'U1en ~ . tho' 4is joined· by kingdoms, ·.tho.' the main·
Roiled i ts brdad surge betwixt~ arid -different . st.ars Behel,d · thdr--:wakeful • moti ons, yet . pr~serveci . The former t'riendship ~ and remembered ·still· . . . ' -. •'
. ' . . . The alliance . of' tlteir ·b:i.l;'th. · . • .•. . ' ~. ·· (III, · 32?:_3A) .....
I
20 ' . . - Ibid._,.P· · z. ·.· .·.
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:21 . ; . ·, .. " ... · . : .· . . . ," . . · ~ohn Lc><:ke, An Essay' C1oncerning Human Understanding, ed •. :_·. · . •. ·.l
Alex~der : Cam~bell Fraser, (pxford: The .Clarendon_- Press, 1894) ,.·I, ' 5.~~;..30. . ,, . . . . .,
. ·. _I .
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· · · ·· tiona· be~een _:ideas whiclappax:en~iy have no. reiati~n · to· .ea'ch other_·
· · ·. is more ~n J<e•P~.;g ;,Hh I ensi~e 's ;~~~ept ~qne p0Wei: tfi<m ~h<· . I .. ' v.iews' of· the a~soci~hon~'?ts; . _;Ac~_ordi~g c:o. Ake~side' ~ the'oiy ,. ~t . : .
-.. ~~-·/inconceivable· th~t · ~~J m·~~t~l f~~ulty:w~ic~ shapes ma~'·s . ~;al : _-_- ·
" ·. ~.uq.~~~t ·:wo~~d· b~ .- ie~t: at the .mercy .bf .. the chklnce ~ssociation· of · · : ·: · .:·, ..
_ , •• , . 11 • • ' - .~22 -
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. .·· .· • · i~e ~ •• In mocti 0 f hi•t· .. ~i,umen t .Ake~si de ,demoris , ·;,;,,. that ,he: ~·~. · ' ' . ··. . .. 'decided .on What to rej ct which Locke hath · taught. .. .
.... . · ; .
··: ·· . . Fr~·m _ Akens.iie'~.~ _ into~ view .!:~ereo;,..is no' ·substitute f9.r · ._,
·:- .. \ - .~ ... :. :. L.
I . . .. ··' 1'. ·oaturd ability. · Ear11 in TJ\• Ple8ouresoi lmagin~tion he aSSeitS ·: .· • • i • . . ·
:-: that '!fr.om ·Heave~ _·_ descends I The. flame o~ 'genius .i:o the _hinnan . . , ·"
·.' . j · , ' . -1' . j • I ~
( -. · . ·.'
... . . ' r :.i . .
- ~l : ·. · .. ~· ,-
- i 4 . . · dem-;>~strate the belief · that · if innate talent is lacking, no amo~nt '·
'of -· education .elm make a poet,' In this. ··view he comes once more . I' t ' . ' . . ..o . (· · .. _:, .- · .. • : .
'/ ', .' • • . •I .
_. . : .. .- •• · 'r '.
_.' , ._, -~ ~ncier th.e _:i..pflu~n.~~ .of · Shaftesbu~ ~~d· h:is 'dtsciple',' Francis -·· . ·, .
·. . ;_f
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1• · • ~ '> "(r 1 , • •
Hu~cheso~,' who asserts 11tha~~ · < .{. : : ·.· . ,._·
, .. .
. , · ~ I
. ' .. . \. . . ' ' . . •' . . '
. Education. !lever m~kes us · apprehend any · Qualitys .' · in .Objects, which we have Ilot naturally . Sedes. . · ~4Ifable o~ perceiv:lng, • . •. .• ' And th_e same way, . a -~n i·natura11y void of Tas.te could by no . ~ducation . rece;L ve the Ideas 0 f Taste • . I • • • 23 . . "
. " '(.
,· · . ·'. The W~nd J aC:cor.ding : ~Q these aes~theticianS 1 is . pOSS,eS Sed: Of r Cett.ain ..
• ~ ~ • 1 , • • • • , ' • • , • 4 ,. . , . . ; , ; · • I '. • • , :, ' ., : 'I . '( ... .inborn· po'i<{ers' which 'enaple mari ~o discern beauty from def_o~ty . :
. . ' . . . . . . . ; . I • ,,
. . . ~
:. 22s.ee Akensidia''.s Ode 1'To: 6~eb . Hardinge_ ~ M;D.'i .· . . ' · 9 . ·~ . ·.
..
.· .. ,_.
·'· , ..
, ' I ' ,
: ··; . . 23h and-!~.' ~ut_c_he·s~n· , . ht, .Inquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas . . ·:. ·: of Bea'uty and .. Virfu~ - . (1726; .- rp"t • . ·New York: Gar~and Pu'J?lishing : Inc>,
:. : 1971) ; . P• 9L . :. . . .· . . ' . . ··'
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. · ,.; ·. and truth :f~~ni deception. · · The ei:ghteerith-century .:view ' th~t th'e •.: . . · · • ' ' . , ' , • ' ; ' ~ ' ' : • ; ' , ''· . ' ' ' . : · ~ • • I :· • ' '' ' , ' ' '
-.. . essent;ia1 guiding , facult~es of; the·· mind are: fnria te. is a ' fore:ru~er .-. :' ·:.
• .. : ' : . .- · ~-- .... ~ ' ~ -
of the concept .of tast~. as a prodt,tct' of .individ~al . talertt~i.· . .Taste ·., ' ' . . . . ' . ; . ' . . . ' . . - . ' •, . - ~· . . . . ' . . ' .
:lri :rhe Pleasures ·· of Imagination' is r~prese .. ~ted . a~·· . a p:atural' pro- .
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. p~ns:i i:y •.. ft.kem~ide maintains tnat' the same: inborn power which . . ·. ' . .. . ' ' · ,, I ,.
. : : . ;. ~ : · guide~' man in . his inoral deci~ions. a;iso determin~s . his ·'aesthetic ..·-.. \
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Judgme-h t: ·· · ' · . . .. . . ·tl. . . .. ·r \.:: ..... · What- ihen is tast~, otit . t~ese . internai . . p-~w~r~.
: ... ·.AcHve 1: and . strong~ . ' arid feelingly .alive .. . .'.. . · · •. To ei~ fine i~pul_se? . ·. a discerning . sens~ '
·- : . .. '< . .. . (
.;· ' ' · !.
. .. .: :_ . . Of, dece~t · and. ·sub l:i,me, wi.tli · q u:I:c~ · d~sg_us -~· :. . . . ' 1 · -
· , ... ·' .. '· ··· ·
·.·- ... .· .. , .\ From things : deformed;: .or disarranged, ·or gross. In a pedes? . , . . · . . •. · . · · . · · · · . · ·
··. :,_ • . · . · . · ... ~ (III~ ··51S~20) :.·. . . ; . _.·.:·.
,· . . . . ~ . .. . ':·· _:.; __ -...
.... ,-,.' . ~ ' ( .. .. . :r~ste as -~een 'here . is, a ~d...,. given tencie'n:cy which. serve~ to .#r~c·t: . . .··- ·
'l • •
··. . ... -·:
,. ; ·· ·:'· ··:.', ~- . : ~~n'·s. -~~~i~~s :i~· ali S:spect~ of .his · e.x(s _~·enc~. - ~~nside .believes~ ·.>
. .. · h6we~er • that · n~t~ra~ tai~nt·~ .have · .. t .o ·be· ·c~iti~ated and ·~efin~d ;
' . / --' , . ·. • ..
• ,i'
' , . . F~r "Wit~Ut ;dr ou~ture's kin)parJ.tal aid'' (Ip\ 538), th~: '· 1. • meilta~'!;S remain '_embryonfc 'and · crude. While .Aken.side does no.t ·
-~ t
/ ' . : ,... , I ', - 'I ,' ' ' w
see taste as truly spontaneous·, ·he, .does argue ·that the seeds of I
' '·
· ... ~ · ~ ·· taste must .be ' present at bir.th• 'For ·if one is not' nal!u.ral1y
; '•,· .
. biessed .with·· .tl}e prcipe:r .talent~ .• !).either !'gems, nor stor~s· of '.· . , I ' • • ' ' ' ' ' • • • , '
·,. '(. :
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... , t ·, ,' . . · . : · ~ ._ ·· ~: gold, I ·Nor purple · s~ate; nor c'ult~r.e:'· · (I:;n, · 520:-l), .·t b~E}to~·
.the gift of tas.te. A .. true taste may be the :peS:eiant's blessing · as . ' ; : ·:· ~ ·. ·.: . . ; ,:
' • • ,:·- ~ • 'l'· •
well as the nobleman' s ·. As proof. o(. this assertion Akenside .refers,
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.to .the "sw.ain" w~o · '. lJ
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, •. .•. -.loiters ·to .behol'd .. ; The ·sunsniti.e . gleaming,· a~ thro' amber cl.C:)ud~, :· O'er' an · the' western sky·: :f'ull soon, ·I 'ween;
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. • . ' . -His. rude .e:icp,ression : and untutored ai):'s, · .. '.Beyond :.the po~er· of lB.ngu~ge, wilf .~nfold
· The form of _· beauty, ·.smiling at h:is heart. _ · · ·~ ·--.---~·- .• . 1 .·. ·_._·:.>· ·. _ ._ .. : . - _... _. (III~2(9~34) :_ . ,' : .' -~ ·"
· · · ·. ~nif~s-t : in . ·thes~ i:i.nes .. ·-~~ Akenside' s ·. firm belief -'in tlie idea .of· : . . \
. . ·. .. ·
'. • . . · .. . _- .\ . . ,. , . I .•
·. .. n~epral goodness. · the .respect for. the ~ common man ~s it'.~is. seen ·-• I ; . . : . . . • . . . ,
'' • ' L 1 '
here ··is a sy~t~m ·of ·the changing ~oncept· . of _taste in the centucy_ • .. , .. - ..
.. ' ,• . ' Akensi'ci~ ::i.s clea:rly .'opp?~ed . to the' neo:...classical assumptiOii . that . - : ·:. _. .. .
.·· . .. . '/ ,
ta_st~ .. c~~ b~ C:t'ef.ined1 by ~ · set of ~ule_s ·or ~ - lltera:ry theory· which .. · .. :; · . ,~1 . • •. /. . .• • : . • • • ' • • ' • ' . "" ..-. , • • . . • · •. · 1 • • ' : • •
' : '• .· ··:. refuses to acknowledg~ ~n '~s innate taients. : The . concept' . of tasb:!- :.-·
', .. '. ·as .a natur~i gift was·~ accordi~g .tb E.N. Hooker', "another factor . . / -
, 1 • • • '· .
:.: - ; ~hich made for the doWnfali o'f reas'on 'and ~ul~s in liier~ry : .c.rit:i:.... : . :-' ' • ,' ' ' : ' ' ' I ' ' ~ • , ' :' ' , . ' o' •
" .· 24 .. . . cisin." · · This part o~ Akenside' ·s· ~ri?iument, .the.re~ore,: ·anti~ip.at·~~ : ·
· .. - ' '
.. ' '
•! . •
. the Romantic trust. i'n· 'individual standards . for beauty, . : ,._. '
· .i ;. · '_While mos~ - e~ghteen~h-cent4ri_ l,ite~~r~ t~eorists ·attempted · · ,, . . ~
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. J . . .··.,/: : ·· . to .arrive at a· standard for art cri'ticism, Akens ide maintains. ~ha.t '
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_.· in~~Y~.lfpal:i._ty of tas_t ·e : is •· actual~y '_!0:-~~co.rda~ce ~ith the plan o~ ·. ,_ · .... : _
. ·.
. ' ·. :·div.ine p~o~idence~ -~his _.kiri~ of. r~s~ect --,f~r - individuali~-Y 'in Th:e-: · .. . · ': ; . ' ·. . . - . . ----·. : ,
. _.. · ' fl~·aa~r~s of · Imagination is . inherent in the popuiar religiot!S .views .
of .the,_ ;~ ~5 : .·· Through~ut ~is .:poe~ : Aken~.ide · argues tq~t it i_s the .. : ; . . ,
·.· .. ·· -. -. -';·:-.,.. /
.. , .. ·'I .:.
'\· '·: 24~Ciwa~d N •. Hoqker, "l,-he. Dfsc~ss:i.cin .df Taste,· ·_from· 1750. - t~ ·· · 17.70,- and the New T:.;ends :iil · Literacy Critici.sm," PMLA, XLIX _(1934), . 586· • .
. . • . ' . ' · . ' .
. . :·
-~ ... ·
•, .
· .. . ; . . · . . . .
·. _ _. 2s· . · · · · . : · · · · · · . · -· · · · · . · .. ·. · · Arthur· o·. Lovejoy ,argues . that . "the ·general transition f.rom
· ilnivers·alism i:o· • · .... di versitarian:ism • • • was prdmoted--b)<po · ·_. means solely~ :but perhaps chiefly-..:by ~he emphasi s . ~nd rei teration
·"given to the principle of plenitude in · the. arguments 'of ·the -eight::.... ·:eenth~~e~tut'y def~ridets ·of O_Ptimism. ~· Sef ~'Op_tiu~fsm · and_ Romanti- · . ., · cism,. PMLA, XLII (December, 1927), 945. ) · 1 • . • • •
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design o'f('provid(mce that .'each man respond di! ferently · to . the ·. . ' ,,·. ' . . ·\. . :· ' .. ·· . ' . . ' . . ' ' . ·_.·.
beauty in . ~.at;tir,e, -~irice /·~o "var'ious ··are : the .tastes .. 'of meni.'.' o:tr, . .. - . - ·· - • ' ' : , ' ,._ . • . ' ' · .. : ' . t' ..
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deligh'ted ·.~ith the: vast· and m~gnifi~ant;- oth.er.s. Q~ . the contrary : ;'.-: :· ·~ ' I • • .,_
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• :' : •• : • . . ' ' : .' • 0 • . : . • ,' 1. ' . ... '26 ·. ·.J:with the e·legant· and gen.tle : aspects of nat tire." . · ·This·· difference · .. . ,' . . / ·,
in ta~t'e reflects the part:i:cular . natu~a1-·endo~ents :of .' inen 1 ·~ minds: . . ~ • ' I ' '
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· :· iF:i~~·; · ~. · ! . . . . ·Hence·, .. when lighthing·_:£ir~s :: ... , . ' . :. ··: · l:
. . ·The arch. of h~av~n, and :1:::h\mders .roc.k 'the ground;"' . . · . . , . :,' : j · liben·~ furious - whirlwiMs ' · rend the howling air, .. · . .. . .. : .· .. ·· '· " :,/· · 1
~· .. ..... .. ":-:--· .. -~- .'~.~- : i . • I , • ..!1 ,> " · :And pcean , ·groaning from the lowest' bed, .' .. "!i' ' ' .' · I · · .. .. · ..
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· Hea':es ·his · tempestuous . billows · to -. the s~y; · - · --~- · : . - . · ·:.· _.- .-. .Am_id 'tl\e m.i'ghty uprciar, :wltlle b¢iow . '• " . ' . ' '• '.. ' . . : . . . ' . The nations. tremble; ' .-shakespeare. lo'oks :abroad, · ·: ~. . . ·· : ., · ,_. ·· From some high cliff, superior, ·and· enjoys . . . : -. · ., •· ._... ' ..
· .. . . -- · .. The· . eletfi~·ntal war. 'But .. Waller 16ngsi•• '.· .. : .·.· _,,'· :.. . · · . .'~ . . :· -~·· . -· . ' All on.'.the 'margin . of ·so.me 'flower:;'..s'treatll:, . . . . . . ·.-: . . :
.. .. . . ··-... . · . . ': · To -' sP.re.ad his ~a'reless l'imb~ anrl.'d ~he ,cool :. , : · · .o~. ·-plantai"n shades • . ; • . • · ., . . . · . . . . . .
' · ' , ~ (II;t:~; -5~~~61) .. :~ .. :· .:.. .. ::,_·,:·::.-- ·:-: :·· ·.·J •. 'i. ' .. •'" I . ' ·. , ;,
In Akensf~·Et'· s view Shak~speare · is a :manifestation of a sublim~ '· . ·.
pi,eti/gOnius, -. mi~d .~~rac,ed ~o those ~je;t~C ~tura~ spect~;ies .•... , ./ . \
.- i~ :-~hich it sees a reflecti.'on of .·itself. "·'Walle;, .. on: the · other ~ . ... · · . ;.l .-:·.
. . .. ' ... ··~ . , · . . , · ' . : ; ' . ,!' ' '·:· ·. . , ·· "' .
·. · h"an4, repres'e!l~~ : a rit~re sober t~ste, dra~ :to .the . calmer .scenes in · ·:· · .. - . . . _,_ .. ' ' • • ' , , . r • ' · . , . . ••
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' . . . . . 'sublime and ·w~ller' s more . restrained response . . to ' nature. •Akimside ... , ., '
. . . . . ' . . ' . \ . ' : ' ,. · ..... .:,.·\:.;'· · . . ..
'is .'att~inp~i.ng to -r:econcile opposin~ ·aes·theti.c \9ilues. His aim, . . . \ . . ' ,\ .· . '
. there~~~. iS tD dera·tr.ate that .taSte, fat fr~m, bei'!li a standaid · ·t ' .·,, . iuipos6d by a litEi/rry ~o~t~h:; i~ ,;, inbo~ ~oWe~ whiCh' ' give's ' . ' .. •·• ' . . · . . : .
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· . world. · . ·, , · ., • '·
" f: in . t?,~ : ~.'p.esig~" . AkerisMe.'decla~es. that': ~is -i~t~~t~:~n -:i~;·~e ... ,._. . '. . . . .:' . .. · ' . . . .. ·- \ . . .... .
of. imaS'ination fs . to "tinii:e the mo~a:1 ; ~xc_eiJ.end.es . ·of.:
. ·' .-
f ·-· . : . . : . •.. . :. . . . . . . ' . 2'7 :' with the mere . extemal objects of ·· good· taste.'~ . His:'
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.· ;'", : ... :·arg~~n-t:, "therefo~e, is -: t ·hat taste not onlY,. guidl;!s. man-in -his . . ·. ·.· .... '.' ·. . ·. . . . . ... -. . . . : . · .: search .for -·beauty,·.but'also 'controls hiS _mo-ral.- judgmen't. · For A-ken..:.:_· :··.- .... :.· ,!_.: . ' • . , , . , . . ~ • - , . ' , , , ~ . , I ' , ; . • . • . . . . , . . .· . ·, ·. . .· , .' ·, ''/: ' ' o I ' .'' ' 'I, ' ~ · , ,·· :• -~ • ' ·(,I : ' ! •
·s_.ide b~~auty /imd truth are. iden:t:i'cal :th ·a,:v:el:y·.:real s'e.nse,. :since, .. ··
. . . : .'.
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.. : ~ ~:(:. :.:.< .E· .. _·/·.:·,.:: .manis .love of the .f~~~.r.~ wi~;ll¢.s:d ~i~ · to. disc?ve~· the. iatt.er~ .. . . ·., · . ,;:: . : .. · .. f .
.. , .. .. ··
· v
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' .·; "· =.:· -:· ·1, . true · . ··.> .. .. · ·· · · ·· · · ·
'• • • • • • • ,• ·-·~ : ', ,_ '' 't .--t~~--~--- . ~_ · ... ·: . :Akens ide .. bel~eve"s·· that. a fine . imagin~tion is tantamqu~t . to a ·
. -· .
. ·fas~e. :htd since. im~gi~at~on. is' the faculty' ~hich shapes t~~ ·.~~~~ - . ' . ~ .... ~ . . .::.:-:,: ' :· :'\;-;:. ~·-' ' . . ...
. ·,. n~l;,le ·s.ide o.f. D:Iait1 s nature, 'the gif{~{ tast~ is ano-ther example · .. ' ~ . ..
b.f the .. ~isdoin ~nd ._ goodne~s 'of provid~n~e-~ r·rn ~king : this connec-··r
... ]..: . :· . . .; . ':..~ ~ .. '··:
.,·-_: · .:' ·· .. ..
. '
. ·.· .• .. ' · . . t:~.on· be~ee'ri 'man' 8 aesthetic e~erienc~ and his ~p.irittial devel.o{i-. ~ ..
. ui~nt~ Akenside· presents a. consi'der'able ' argcimen'~ for the reinst:a~e~ _," .; . . : . . , :. \:,~ . · . . . ,' ~ . ~
. ' ·. . .. .. I
.. ment of imagination to ,what he considers to be its rightfu_l . pli~:e . . . ·,, ' , · .· . ' . ' . . { -
in.· English ·.poet'ry. · Thus, :i.n, .its l)igh · regarcl_; for ·.~he ~aculty of. . ~ . ' ' ' . . . ·. . ' . ' . . '. • I . ..
imagination and its represent'atiOll of taste as a .natu-ral abil-ity, '.. . . . . . . ' . . ' . . . ' . ' -·
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tn~o·ry of aesthetics . in The _..;'
. :·
Pleasure~ · of Imagination looks ·. : '·.
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. ' .
.·.· ·
'f()rward to. ROmanticism. . . ' -. •' ~
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27" '• ~ . · 'Poetical -Works'· p ~· ' 4 •.
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33
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CHAPTER II
THE ODEs': TOWARD ROMANTIC ~LYRIC ExPRESSION
The full ' significance ot' Akens ide Is extensive han~ling 'of . ' \ . ' the ode form·: ~arly in the eighteenth -century has not been recog-
' . . . . . . . •. . .
·n,ized • ' "'' His odes. are often dismissed. as uninteresting imitations
. of his classical models that have little. literary ~or historical
val)Je~ · One ·critic, for example·, .feels that the goal of .. "correctl ·
.J : ' ness" which Akenside set' for himself in the "Ad~ertisement", _ to the
17 45 edition of his Odes, -is the . only one he manag~d to ach~eve, 1 . . I •
·Another writer charges that a,s a~ eighteenth-century ly_rist, ' 2 .
"Akenside is interesting chiefly for his stanza forms." · . Such . . ' . . ' \ '
dismissais are typical of- the kind of treatment Akenside's lyric
poetry ~sually receiv~s. ;
Alld y~t, his . collec-tion o.f Odes oti '•'
Several-Subjects was publish~d ~e~ore ,either Gray 'o; Co~lins had · . .
· d~ne much o-f . any- signiffc~nce with the. :ode forrli~ From this po:i.rit of •••• • IT'. . ' :
view,. A.kensfd~ was, as E:~ Gosse _cla~ms_, _ "an ~nn.ovator ·.• at · this .
• ' . " ' ~ ' 3 ' inoment of. ctist's. in . the . eyolut ion of ,English poetry." ·
in turning from didactic poetry to the ode Akenside may be - . ' • ~, 4 • \•
1 ' ·Havens"! p. 449. - ·
: \ '
2 ' . Shuster, '?· 145.· >'
' . ' ·' / 3 ' . ·! . .
., · Edmund. Gosse, "Mark A;kensiiie, Poet: and· :Physician,~'. The Living .. Age, CCXI (Dec;ember 25,, 1921}', \789.
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~e~n as str:ving' ~owa)'d a IDore' ly~f poetic style; At the/ime,
' .. ·. ' ' · '.
the ode was invested with. the ·authority'ofclassical antiquity, __ _... .. : . ~· . . . . ' . . . 4 ' · . ... : "-_-;.;...· ·:.
arid, yet·, as ·the "most ami~ble species of _poetry," · itf'~ffo.rded
poets a .freedom of expres!'lion that would no.t have been possibl~ in ,. , · .
• • ~ .~ I - '
the more popular poetic forms of the day. . Akenside cl~arly uses . . . · . \_ . ·. . " . ;'
In his 1,odas Akenf'?ide is nqt · the ode with this idea in Itrl.nd.
attempting merely ·to il;Di tate his classical -models; rather, .like ,' .. .
I
Gr~y; Collins, and ·othe.r wr:Lters . who used· the ode extensively ·earl?
-in the century, ·he \is trying .to adapt a classi~af form to tl)e
. lyrical mood which had begun . to manj.fest· itself; in English poetry
· by this time; , · • • • l • '
Attempting · to wrife pQe~ry which is the product~ his own . {· . feeli.~gs, Akenside finiifs hfmself in tl:i.e s;'~e predicam~nt' as oth~r ·
• • • f ' • • • :
lyrists in the -.r(e.' . Tliis dilennna may\ be seen by examining __ the
_poetic task.:which '·AkEmsi'de ~et~ for ·himself, as a:nnounc~d in : the
,. ,
' .
. : Ode . "To Caleb Hard'inge, · M·.:p._ ~ 1 Petit~oning the aid of hi!> friend, ·· ·
Hardit?-ge, ·Akenside declar~.s his acceptance of ·his literary resp_on- .- .{ ,.
~ibillJty: \ . \
.'..
Oh! versed . in ·all the h~man frame', Lead thou where' er my labour lies, \
·- ·· And : Enghsli fan~y 1 a· :.~ag~r· flame · . '
I ,,'
. . ' I
~ . > -TO Gred.an. ·purity ch·astise: :. · . "· . . ' . (. While hand in nand at Wis'aom Is sb'rlne' ' ' ..
\ .. · . • ' Beauty with.· truth I ·s .tl:ive to. j~in, . \ .:. . a, \ \: 'And grave ·assent with glad applause;
. · ... . ~ 0
;. 4 !1Adv~r.ti~ement"
Subjects! . ':. : . \ .'
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. . ; To pafnt tqe ptory of tli.e soul, · · · And Pla:to.'s .Visions ·.to -control · · .
' .' .. By· Ve.r~lamian laws; ·(V . -) ··
. . '• ,. '.
' ' . ' . -. ' . ' ·., ~ ' ' ' ' , . , ' ' .
. . Here Akensid~ reiterates. the wish'; already' expressed in The . . . . . . . . - . . . .
' .. ,
Pl~a~·ures o'f Imaginai:io~, to fin-d a proper baian~e in. p~etcy c ' ' '
b~.tiieen_ enthus1asm and respectabilfty, and betWeen Platonic v.ision
and ·scientif:Lc' ratio~alism~ . The problem ·represe.nted . by . the pre-: I , I / '
ceding i:i.nes · acco'unts',: fo~' the emofional rest'raint· -in Akens:i.de' s
lyric poet~ wh.ich has led Edmund Gosse t~ see· hi~ .'as "a. sort· of . .• . . . ·. 5· '' . . ' ' ' . . '
. , ·.
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·Akens ide-'s odes, caused . by his d,esi,re to :attain .u?inhibftel ·eipres-·•.
' . , _._ . ~ . ' ..
' . ..
. ''sio~ 0~ the one hand,' and to remain. loyal to bis ~ore classica'l ' . - . . . ' . ~ . :
·.-. ·.' . '. ·literary values ,on the_ other. ' Akens ide ' 's odes may- be· seen . to .. · ...
·. . . . • · ·<i-e'flect. his . c\if~·iculty with ' lyric expressio~, ~ ~ympt9m ~f · the ;La~k • • • • \o •
~, . . /,--:~
·· ot ~.nspiration .for this kind of · verse · during the Age of Reaso~. . . . . .. A.ithougil· ~enside·'s odes' dispi~y a wide .d.iver'sity of t~ne and··.
. . .. : . . . . .. · . theme, these J?O'enis leave the predominant impression that ··he -was
'· '\
. :( '• .. . .
. . . . ' .
preoc<;u~ied w:ith his own poetic art·. This concern is most clearly · ' _.../ , ' o I , f '
seen 'in the handful ,of o,des .dealing specifica,lly with . the theme ·of . ' . . ,
· .... : 'iost' inspira.t:Lo~; b_ut ' throug~out his .. lyric· ve~se there a~e mai).y · . ' . ' ' . I. '
........
· . . ··
' ' '
hints of ·Akenside's dissatisf~ctio~ . regarding . his lyric ' expression. \ . ; . . . ,. . ' ' .. ; . . . . .
. - ...
.. : . . . ~artly' because of -~he st~gma , which .was . attached to wild .' . . .' • ·'
... ·
( . ·,:
. ·
, I. ' :
.. ' '
. · flights"· of poetic fancy ·and partly, . b~c~use. of hi_s own teniperament; . •
·. Akensid-~ saw himself-as ·: a follower · of _Horace rather . than ~f Pindar. ,.• .. ., .
•, ' • , ' ' 'S ' . . . . ' ... '
.' Go_sse,' A History; p. nz~ ,, . . . ,.
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:· r~ ·his '· Ode ·r:· "Pref-ace," . therefore·, _ ~kenside ·compares his lyric' · .. . (' ·:' . ' . . ' · ' . ' • ' . - ' ' ' ! . .
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'· endeavours . to the labourJof the· bee:
. ' "' . . ' ' . ~ .
Like th'e_e, in lqwly,.· sylvan scenes~ . .. On river banks and. flowery . greens ·
· ·My Muse delighted ·plays; ~ .. ·. ,.,:
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Nor ·.through the Clesert of the air; . ' ' .· , ()· ' . ' ' · ·; Thouglt'i"Swans or eagles Jtriumph _there,·
. · c;.#'ith -fond ambition strays. ·· · .-·. · (v. ). :
· . .. . · .: : ' • . , ~ .
, .. , .. : I . . . • . .
Despit'e .'this declarat~on ·:by Akensidc that he does not aspi~e - to . . .. .... .. . . . . '. ' . . . ' . ' . . ) . ' ' . . ' ~ . "" · -· ·. ' Pindaric·. -lydc _ exp~es·~ion ~ n~any ·of ~is ·odes are exemp.lary . of the
J o, ' ' I , · · ~ -, .. • ".·'_: • ,· ' • ' ': • ' ~-}! • ~ ' " I ' ! ·<J.'
. · · · · .: '·kind cif emo.tion and daring characteristic 'of the odes--. of ·-Pindar~ .. • . ·. . . .· . . • . I
.. ·
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Ake~side' ~· desi~e to :wri~~ lyric _p-oetry that . is· as ·imagin~tive' and -. ·. -·· ·. ·. · '
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_dar~ng as . the odes of Pindar may be detected in many of hi's odes;". · ' :_,/ . . · - . ··.
In an · ode "To the_ 'Right H~n~-i.n:·able' _Francis,_ :E;a'l"l of Huntiqgdon'~
Aki:ft~ide .pays trib~t~ to Pindar: . ...
0 ·P'indar, . oft · shalt thou be hailed of ,me: •. '-. I '
·-· .. .. ·. ' . :: .. .· Not that Apollo fe'd thee from hi~ shrine; ·
·Not that. thy· lips . drank sweetnesTfrom ' the · be~;
., · ,
' ,''· o\',
Nor yet ·that,·. studious · of thy .no-tes divine·,,..... . Pan danced their measure. wfth the. sylvan . . ~hro~g:
-But. that · .thy song . . " . . \ ' . . Was proud to unfold . .
Wh~t . thy base rulers trembled _to behold; .Amid :corrupted Thebes was ·proud to · t .en·
, .. .. . .
~he -~eeds of. Athens and t~e :eersian . sha~~ -= · Hen~e on thy head · thei-r · imptous · yengeance: fell. .:
•"
. . I (IL· 3.) ... I
.. . ·•·.• .·-;I _t is ;~i~if:fcant that in these lines Pindar . is -.. h_ai-'d.ed11· not - for ·
. • '• ; ' II ·,
'th~ wildne~~ and. pa:5sfo~ of his · ·verse, but because he was . a ch~ . I , 'l
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pi.on ··~f liierty's cau~~. - !~ is . ll,pparerit ·thrqughout Akensfde's···odes : ' ;·_ . _ . .. ·
I . . . . •' · ' ' ' .
: • • =- t . , . . ·I ; ' ; ·: : . . . . . ' . • . , "' ~ · y that he ,was a great' admirer of -Pind·ar' s '·'notes divine;,·, and yet,
.· ,· ' :. ' ' / '' . . . . . ' _. . . . . . . . . , , . .
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.···. '.· .· .. ·,· · · he is relluc.tant to . a~knowledge . the )maginative _quali_ty · o~ .the : -~ ' : .j •' ,- .- '· : , ,• . ' , ". .' I . ' , '· '·,: .; ' · .. · ' . ' . • :
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. 37
! . ' • an~ient poet;' s. verse. ve'ry likely . a refle~t:ton 'oi. the - ~ttittide of ·... . ·., ...
·,,
. . . :~qs·t .innovative. wor~ may be_ se!'!-n:· in his ·use of .the more per~011al . . :-
. .. · i .· .·::<"_ .' .lyric.-· : It is not sur-Prisi~g· that · in ·his PiP:d~ric· . ode·~ .AkenSide ' at ;: .· •'
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: ·.···. · tim~s -~pproaches ·poetic '· "madness," . bec!~use ··a~ t~e · ,time '!imitators ,• .. ·.· ... . ~- . · . .. · . . . . ·. . '.. : • ; - - ·. .. 6 ·, . n.·•·•· .•••. ;> ,~:
• • j ... • ~.-· • • .-
. ·. ·of · Pindar.;· felt , free . • · •• to write in . a much· wilder fashion."- · \. .. . ·' ./ .. < :· .... · ... -... :.-..-.. _..: .
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·Akens;lde; however, often aoandons the . Pindaric· . form with it's noble . ·'
the~e·s . and turns to the inore in tense .lyric ·of the Lesbian tradition :' 1 .. • . . ' . . . . . . . : • I . • . • . ( '
.-4111 . . • · I· . for ~he ·treatment .of his _private . conce~s. -~esa odes. de~ling with . · 1
' • / . I •
Akens ide's own doubts and imxiet:le,s are a manifeS''t:atiron of his .
·search for lydc inspiration • . His . strong ,urge_ to write poetry · ; ' I
I
.· · reflec~ing · his ·a~ 'moods ~s another ·a.spect ·of Ak~nside '·s af~init)/. · · i ", . . ' ' . . . . , ' ' . .
I
!
. '· · -· : <: . · with ,· th~ ; great Romantic po~'t~·. ; ~~exiside' s P,e;son~l..ode~ ::\etr:a~ a,. ~ ) ~··
i .· ··. · .. . . :difficulty in his 'wri·ting · that doe~ •not .ar:ise· in his 4se cif the · ·
· ... ' f..-~ . .
.'Pitida~ic form. ;_The pattern of th~ Pi ndad.c ode was well-define'd . : '
·-
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'. -: ·.· in the century~ and poe·ts ·k~ew ·exactly .how much licence ~hey c~uld; ' . . . . ' • . '1'' . • '
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' t~ke .with it . The use of the "lesser" · ode~ in the way Akens:Ld~. · .(· . I I
... ' • I
. . . ' . :,' .
e~l~ys i~·, ~owever 1 was a -mo'i:e i.m_certd~. ~~ayour ~ . _. · • .J• • • • • ' • • • ' • • • • • • •
... The Ode "On. Lyric P6etry, !' in which 'Akenside pays tribute to . . . . . ' ', . . . . . . . . .. .
his · ~la~sic,al models' betrays the difficultY. whith ne 'experiences··.· . '· .
, .. ··in Wrfti~g t_h~ ~erson·~i odes." In his Ode ."On Lyric Poetry" Aken.:.. ·· . .... .
.. ·.···.
. ....
.· side imrokes the :a,:i.d of the .l.yrist~ of the . Lesbian tradition·· tO' · .. · '·
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· ·~·- ·pro_vid~: insp.ir~tio~ . f<:>_~his ~~~~-~~ent :~·· :m~;~ humble theme·~· · · suit·e·d to the "!esse~" ~cie •. . ·Thus, .he ·fttvokes the "Tei~ · chord;'
' · , • • ~·", ' ' • :·. • ' ·, ' I ' ' • • '
. · . , . . . . . , , . I ·. · : . .
·when· ·~-~riendship" and 11lettered .mirth" demands · his ly:J;e (iv: ,,2); . '• ' .. , . -
·· And Sapph~ · hersel·f · is to provide . the insp~ratio~ for h·is pla.inti'~e .
love-:soiigs · (iv. --~) •·. I~ t~eating the kind ·of e~alted -themes · f or·
· which the Pind8:ric ode was usually' emp'loyed·; . however'· . Akens ide :
qeclares · that he needs no help ftom the · classics:
But when froin' e~yY and ·from death to Claim A' hero 'bleeding for his ~at~ve land;
. Wheri to throw incense . on the vestal . flame . : . • ' I
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Of Liberty, my genius -gives command, , " , .
. . -. . . .
· · Nor. Theban ·voice nor· Lesbian lyte From thee; o Muse, do I require; .
· While my presagi~g mind, · · .:: Conscious · of powers she never:. knew, .·
. Astonished, grasps at things. beyond her view, ·.· .- Nor by another's fate· submits to. be · ~onfined. ·
(i v.· 3.) .
'While this declarati.on ·by Akenside of his ··intention to be a some- · · , , I · , ' · · .
· · time( foltower of Pind~ric ~aring i~ an age\n~a~o~rabie to lyri.'c ·.
poeti:y ,is significant i: it is of even 'OIOre signif~cance in suggesti~g
that . in~pfratiQrt _ is .readily available in the age.' for the treatment . ' • I I
. of ' noble themes using the Pind.aric ode • . Poets _:l.IJ. ~he century who '
attempt .to find a more intimate lyric stylet· ~owever, f i nd 'it more . . .
' .._.,.. - . . difficult to p~oceed.
. · _.
. •
Akens.ide' s person'al' odes may be ·seen : ~s . ~n attempt to attain . . ' · ~. .. .
.more, 'truly lyrical· e';cpress:i..on. :_ .J.!:any of his odes ·serve a kind of.
. . " • , ' . , , I ·~
· therapeutic function . for Aken'side, for from all accotints.·he was ..
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-too res~i:ved 'to ··~liare his persoiia~ · problems 1eve n .with .• his t losest ; : . . ····: ' .
• • .· j · •. '
friends. ··.The o_~es of 'advice, __ fo_r · ex'~ple; in their concern with .. .
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the poet'~ ;:oWn doubt~ _-and failures .become m~re t .h:an mere · instand~s . . . . ~ ' '
. .
·:~~: poE7tic : ~o;ali~ing• ·.In f~_ct, · thes·e - odes may ·not .have- b~en ·. .. . .
· .addres.sed to real'"fri~nds · o.f .: the poet' · at :ali. The more one reads -..
the·s'e .OdeS .Of adyice, the S'ttonger One IS imPreSSiOn beCQmeS that. I • • # , t , \, ' '
t.hey are . tools ·whicp. enable· Akensi:de . to . treat suqjects . of ·a very ·. · .. ·' . . · .. . .
subj"ectiv~ _natur~. · For -example, in ·an .. oqe. entitled "Agai1l;SI: · v '
· S-~spf.cion, ;, Ak.ens,ide. bet~ays Ms · anxiety -regarding -his· fri~ndship .I,
with ' Jere.miah Dy~OI_t• : . Th.e· od~. is .quite ~anc;:i£ul, a·~- we may see by·~ . ·. : .· _.. ·.'
the ope~ing stanza in which Ak~nside· portrays suspicion as . a 'Gothic . . -..
~orror 'figure: .
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·oh! . fly; 'tis dire Suspicion's mien; : Arid, 'meditating plagues unseen,
The ·sorceress hither bends : : , _ B~hold! her tduch in' gati imbrued: .
·' Behold! her 'garment drop·s with blood. 1 Of lover.s and 'of f~ienqs. - ~ (I~·) · ·
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'l;he 'bi'ghly ima_ginative. t'reatf!1ent of . the subj~ct• is an att~mp~ - by
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Akenside to attain unrest'rained ;Lyric expression. But · there. ·is· a '· ' ·
note qf. anxi'ety in ·the ·poem,which f~ · its -most furidamental. ~oncern, ' ~, , , , · , , .• ' ', , ' . ·I.
·This becomes apparent 'as Akens:l.de invok~~ the powers ~hich lie: . . ' ~ ' .
b~~.ieVeS . Can .proteCt 'h~S . frfendS~ip from ·S_USpiciOll IS . Coriupti~~ - ::,> >/'' ,
influen'ce:
. ~ :
. . J _-·.'-If, , far:. fro~ ny'son and , frout'me~ · ·.suspicion -):.oak, .by thy.-aecree,
· . Her everiastirig flig~t; . . If;. firm on virtue's ample base, .. Thy P,ar~~t hand h'as. · de.igned to r~ise .
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pOe I; IS friendshf p With . nys.On remain~·d : Strong ; hrougbOUt .
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. · ': ')is' lif time·,'· Ake~~ide 'has ' .. goo'd r~ason · f·o~ ithe -anxiety exp_~~~~ed . . : . :· ' .
I ·• -It' seems tnat·.'he exp~·r.ie~ce'd" fr~qu~~t ~isallpo'i?t~ --'·'
men .. in many 'of his friemds.hips~ · 'The Ode': ''Against. SUS!licio'n, " ·: : ' ~ ,• '• ' ' ' • ' ' ' ' r ' ' .
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a yecy pdv'ate 'qote, ._as,·.~o · many pf t~e . odes ·_of _ . ..-- ....
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/-"' . -"'. The. od~s .of ;:idvice::on . io:Ve : also r~:flect Akenside' s own .... ;'· ,. _. · ·. : ~ ..... --:'" I .. --- _.. · ·_ per~onal doubt,' . I. A. wui~falll$. · as~-~rl:s ~h~t Aken~id~ Is' .odes 'rev~al ·. · ...... : /;:: ··. ' . . : . .
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' "a: mind thrille~ .with intellectual' passion, but often afraid of ,:: ·. ';_. · ~.. . •: . :;. · .. ,j·,. .'
• • II 7 This ~sse.ssin~nt certa~nly. applie~ to. 't~e · ... _.. . .'• . •,. ·.·.: ...
. . . . ' ·.·
· human ~mot.ions .• ·· • . t.
. . . . . . . . . . . I . . · .
.. odes .of advice' qn matters of the heart·. : The Ode-· "To the. Cuc~oo,-11 . . ' . ·· .. · ; .. ..
.. ' .
. · .. for example, _ is ·almost? c:ynic~l- in its message, up.doubtedly one .' . . ,' ' ' .. .
The ~uckoo
., . . ,• ,•.:_ .- ·..:...
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. ·:'::'bl~nded by.· lov~ 1 s · c~arms • . In "To ·the Cu~kq~" ·the poe~ r.ela~es - ~hat · :
. yc;>uth. of lo~e 's ·. dark~r ~ide. · ._' . ·· --: ' . '
,. j • • • • ' ·' •
The· yo~ng· love i ~ ho~evet, is .. -always · · • ' ' I _,_ ' ' • ' • ' ' ' . ' / •"' '
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. 8:5-. a 'youtb he,t6~~.was . reluc):ant td heed. the' ''homely -~~le'' of . the . I ' , . . ; . I
cuckoo:
.. • '.
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~ . .
I . said~ "While Philo~eia I s . song ·. ' . . : f ·. . . . '
Proclaims .. the passion of . the. 'grove,: . It .ill-beseems' 'a cuckoo's · tongue .. · . ··Her. ch~rtning l~nguage to teprove 11
- -:
. · Alas, . how_ much .. . a lover'· s ear . . ·.·Hates ail.- the . sober .truth to .hear·, -' ·:
The· sobe.r truth of love!· · ·
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. · .. Tl:le · . .-app~'ehensiyeness ~-e~arding --loV'e which-may be d_et~c:-ted in t~is ~ •
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. :-: · .. · .. : .. 7.IolaA; : .Willi~~~' Se~en ·.xvrtrth Century .Bibliogr~phie~ ; . : ·. ·· .. · . · :··:~: . (London: nulau· & company, _Ltd~,1924)~ p. 83~ · .· · · · . . ~· .. . ' . ' . '
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st'anza is a · recurr.ing theme · iri·· Akens ide.' s odes, · Fo·r ·eXample, in . . . . • • • , • . • , , . , • .' . ~- 'r .• , ; • . , ·: ' • • , , ·: • •
aii .ode entitl~· :'The ~!Jm~1a:nt"_ ~~nside_,J;en~-~c~~- ~1_.- ~ffil.~at~o-~
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. with th~od of ' love' .only ' to confess' in a . later_ s _tanza t~a~ he . "
· still rer;ogp:i~e,s the meri.t . .: of lov~·:: )nde~d., i~ th~ .Odes, of, ~/v~ce·· - · ~ .:·, " " " "" " : . . . . . .' . ·.1 .· ' .
. o1,1 ·1ove · there is the/: ~in~ · ~lia:t Ak~n:side ~~~te.s"ts . t?o . ~~c~·. · Tb~s '. . ·, .. _. _ , __ . ~ l ... ~he Ode -"On .Love,tci a Fr:l,end" warns the_ you.t? of·ambit_io~ -~ha~
1
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1J_egets ·."unmanly ' fe~rs" and "sloth~h and then . concl·~aes with thg_, · .. . '-.. . (.::
' . · . . poet''s confession: .' ·
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While. thus I prea~h the Stoic strain, Unl~ss ·I shun: .. Olympia Is view' .. · .
. _· ·. ·:\;'. ::. ,._o,:· ... I ' \ I ' '."• ; ' , " , I'
'An hour uns.ays it · all ; again. . · .. , ·' ' · .o friend: when L.ove .directs .her ~yes . ·
.· .. To. p~~rce where : evet-Y passion lies, . ' . . ' Where is the firm, the . cautious·, 'or the ;'wise?
. . . . . (X,) ' , .
Th~se · lines , leave one ·with the impresSion that in .the 'odes ·of
·: .. a4vi:c~ :~nside · _is trying to . -~cmvincehimself' rather_ t.han his . ~-
. · ·friends, that man ~an .'deny his emotional na~ure its· indulgen-ce~::: ' ' -- . - -.. ' . . ..
T~y- :a~ .he may,- how~v~r, -A,kenside seems . un~jyle . to embrace the vie~ • • • • • • 1 . ( • •
that 'man •'is go:verned . en.tirely . ~y : cold reason. This life-view'· as -r - ...-
already. witnessed in The Pleasures. of Imaginat.ion, . causes Aken~~de •!
: .· ·t :9 ~pu.~ . th~· kind\ _of _a.uste::i.ty in his ~ge which was in.tent -~n . ·suppres'sing the -imaginative qualities in ·m.an's ·nature.
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I . .' ·, The emo~i~nal "Od~ at Study" revehs. a conflict within Aken- " t ., ., I '
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side whi9h ~s reflected . iri .much· of h:is poetri. . '
. . ·,. stanz~ · we may
In the opening - " . 4t . .
see Kk'enside.'· s perennial ~truggl~ as . a man .. ~f . ~~tte.r~: .
" ' ' '
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- ·: ..
· Wh{ther. did ·my 'fancy · stray? ·.By wli.at .magic ' drawn away
· Have r ·l~ft. m~ studious· theine?·
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.. <Fro~ . this· ph:i,.loso;h~~·: page,''·· · : ·· :From: the pro"lems of ·the. siige, .. . Wandedng thro1,1gh . a. pleasing dream_?.· ·.
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. . . . ... . . . . . . . . - ' '· . ..... . . :' . ' . ·These. lines r.ep_resent the po~t who. on the.' one h:~d. .'is. str~ving ·to : "/ ·. - ••• . · .. ,. - •' 1 • _t· • . . . .. .. -. ':·: . . .. · ._ . .. _ • '
. ~~~~~ 'away fr~m . the re'straint whi.ch ·· ~as ; f,li,~hi?nable i~ · the neo-- ' • • ' I
t J •
. . ·: ~:!lassical· Age,_·,· an~· ,:o~ , ~h~'- · ~ther is · concerned ··w:i.th. ~the - respe-~ta-: . ,' '
'· , :· · ~~l{~y : ~hi.ch·. l~ :'ch.~r~Cteri~d~ . . of mo;·t . of th~· 'iii~r~t~~e .' f-~ the · · • • • ..... . .... : .. , •• ' • • • • • •Q •• • • • • ' • • '
.::·· · .· ··:\ · :_ : - :· · :-~· .· .\~rf~d. ·· For an.li:is·. a.ttemp:ts .to su~press · hi~ em~tions, . ho:W.~ve'r,
~ r;
f o • .. ,· ' o ', ,· , , : ' I: ' , ,: ' : • ~ o •, o ~:' ' ' : · , o ' . I ' • • • : • I: ' ' .·' ' ' ' • • ' o ,' ' ' ~ o ' ' o I ' ': 1 ! ~ :-. . ; Akenside is forced· to'._conce'de .,that . "Nature. bids a ' sot'ter' power. I .' ' '.· ..
·,.
·.;.·'. :·. ·:. ·: ~ :: .. ... . :. Claim ~o~e minutes for his pwt). J ·~-.. (II.)
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T~e -~_en~e'n~y in · Akens ide : ,...
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· ·.to~ .. ~ors~k~ · the~. mor~ .· s·ol~~ ~u~jects. · for· f~n.cy ~ s- pl~asurab'le . theme~ · · · ·i · . is indic~ti~e · of his :need to wri te truly :emotional poetry; . And' he . ... . . ~- . . . . .. . . I . :· . . · ... ·--:-· -: .· : . . . .
·· . has ·gnly to examine his own feelings to be . assured that .the
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. ·. · '·; . · Though ~ the-day have snloo~hly gone, . .-
. . . . . Or· t!J 'lettered 'leisure known·,·. --· · ·_-. · . ;. · .: .·.· ·· ·
o~ · ·. Or ·in social duty spent; ·: . ... · . ·- · :·. .. . Yet: .-at . ~ve .my lonely ·hr'east . . ... · , · • :-
: .. ·~seeks .· in vain for. perff3ct· re·s·t: · '· ..-' · · : .Languishes 'for true conqmt. : · ·· ·· · . ' (V•)
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. .. " . .
. . . . . .'.· . .. · · ·. In ·the-ir' revelai:iori of .the _p~et' s lo~eUness and yearning; · ~hes~
· .·.".;:·· . .. · J~nes r':pref?el',l~ a .s:i·sriuicarit advanc.ement: in . ~ubjecti~e 'lyric ' :: . . ·;: . . •' . ... ·: : . . . . . ' '/· ... .
' ; .. _-: . '· e'xpression• The treatm~nt of ·his own , persopal doubts ·.and-. anx~eties .
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· · ·:.- odes ,of ·advice . are signific.~t _.eighteenth-_century lyric poems.
. ' . -~ens·i~~1.S ' p~r~:onal })1.~i_c~ .a!~~ ~x;rted influe~ce; · 0.~ .hf~ con telll(lO~~: . , • , . r • •' ' •
.. '.: _,. '.. . ' . aries. -Following Akens ide's ··e~rlier . ex8mp.le', I, o ' _. . . . · . ··.
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. . tl!e: ~l~~·s_e:r: 'ode. t~ . ":l.ork ·. otit thei'r o~. P.riva!=e· and . literary.· pr_ohlems. ~·
.. , . ·' .' ,. i .. :. : ... ~ , .: 'The s.~·arc·h:· f~r : fnspi.rat~bn :1~:d . nt;ari~/ -eJgh.teenth,..hent.ui-y . . . . ·. . . . . ' ' . . . . ..· · ..
' , • , : ', , 1 ' 1 ;
1 · ... . lyr~ais ·~~ ·.~~~ i~~tincti~efy ·t~ the .'·earl~.~r E;nglish poets. j ·Manl -• • < • fl • . . . .. .
: : fest . in ma~y of Aken!:dd~' ~ ... o.de~, . ' . ' ·. . ~ . -.
- • to '• . • • . ' .. .. •
for·· example, is the desire , to . ' . ) '.
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' ' . .... :. · .. >:.w~i~e fn · .. ~·: ~·~r'r~ :.whic~ .:is ' represented py· poets~ · . .suc~ 'as .spens~~ : and: ·
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Milton~ This. ainb'ition 'is reflected in··.Akensiile's .. e.a~ly l.mitation~ · . . '. ' . . _, . ·.. ',
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-: · of Spenser', a~d .in later · po~ms . li:ke th~ "H:Ymn' to Cheerfuln~s:s,i.! . .. ';. . ~ ' . . . . .. :- . . , . ·. .- ·. . a· ·. ·which ' is · ·an iniitatio~ . of M~lton' s cpmpanio.n poems • . · And· ·a· poem
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. .. entitled '~The .Remc.instrance of S~ak~speare" is a bold charge by· .' ··.· · . ! ··
. . . . ., · . .'-t !~.
-~ . ' '. •• 0 • • •• !->~.
.· . '1. · .. ·: . ·. · Akeriside that: 'his age h~s 6~-rped away .':froin the tr.ue Eng~{sh poetic· ·. · .. :
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· .. ·::. J . . t'r~_di~ion. : · :·Th~ ode i~. su'~pos.edly . · spoke~ ·.bY Shakespeare. to an ' ' ' ': ' ! · ' · ; "' ' II ' .
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· · · · aud.ie~c:e ·at .the .'l;heatr~ ' ROyal: · ·The English ?ore · .taken to task ~or· '· ' . '
ll'atroniZ:in~ a ·~o~pany ::of Fr~nch co~~~i~.s... Ak(m~i~e Is. grea~ '
.· resp~c·t .fpr the English ,poet i.'s reflected a~ . Shakespeare: d~fe~d~ : . •. ' ·!.: : ' ' ' : :' . :.-. . ' . . ·: . . ,] .
. ~is ... owri ~. ir~egular ad_: ._· .. · .. · · ·· · · · . I . .
· : What~. though the ·footsteps of my ·devious . M1,1se .: The ·.measure'd walks of Grecian art refuse? .
., · · .cir, ·thou'gh· the . frankness of my ·hardy style, ·
. . . . . . .
..:· , . J: 'Mocl( the nice tOUChes' Of 'thE:l Crit;l~ IS , f~le?
. . ...... · .·:.·~ · ·"--·r',. ·· ·· .Yet, what ~y .·age · and climate .hel4 ·to view,: . ~ ' I
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)•: . .. · . ·. :.' .. ·Thesl~i~~S reve'al ·.Akens.ide~ ~· attitude· tOW!ird . the enslav:eme~t t.o . . ~ ' ' ' I ' 0
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· "c.or~,e<;tnessu which· .. was . ch~rac~eris'tic .. of . so much ~f the . P?·etcy f~ . : .' ' ... ' . . . . ····-
. his ·.ag~.·:· ·The. poem is also .a 13t~tement ·of the po~t'.s dissatisfa_c.tion· · .. : :, . , ;. ,I . ··.·, · . . . • :. , . . . · .. ': . · . •.'·
.... · · r~gar:ding th': French influence on English)etters •. · As a· conse- . . .
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·· _ _. - ~nh~~on~-~~,~p~s~,; of·. ~h~ · Fre~c~ l .anguage.', ·A~ .H~T. Ho~p'~: c.lai~~ · . ·-~- - · '. · . . . ' ,/ . .
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l\kensfde '':was ___ a:la~d ·at ·the . p'rosp~Ct, (jf ~ngii~.~·- SOciety I 8 be:t:n~ _1
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co~r~pt~d ,by ·.Fre~_ch .exami>le. 119 ' \onlat ' re~~i;· :inspir~s 'Akenside Is , ' . ' ·. ' . ' . i - . ' • ' '-....; ., ' · .
. : , .• . ' • .. ·: : . . . . . I
. ·, .c.~sd.gation of 'th~ French influence in. ''The ·Remonstrance of Shakes:-.·· ~. ··: . . ' ..... ..
··. ' ' .• .
. ·.-:· peare •. ", h~weve~ •.. i _s_. his b~liet' that the ·e~r:ly Engiish ~o:ts are .' .
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. . ' . . . . . . . . . ,.. . . . . '!.... . : . ' ' .. ~ ·. :' __ .... . ,' ~ ·. : ~ . . '. . . . . . the · r~al .. source from which .renewed lyric inspiration might : come. · : · . . '.
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-.: .Akenside sees 'Milton as .the supreme ex~~l~· 0~-. Vif!l._ionacy : ; ·' ' ,:•_:. . I
.~poetiC 'ge~i~~. ~n hii 0~~ "To>he Bight Honourable Fran~is, Earl · . . , L· . · :· . • _~ -._ ·.······ :. K .•. \ · of : ~~ti~F·" Akensid~ _pl~ces Milton . in~- ~he company of 'J'indar." .·.. . . . .: .·
, · . • , I·. I -~· ,'I o' ,
. ·.;- .·· ·The' central a:i::_guml:mt· of the ode 'is that '! ~reat _poeti'cal talents, ' ·'
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; , . ..
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h.
· ·and h~gh sentfnientsi of libet;tY ,. .. do .. rec:J,pro_cally produce ~~< as~ist.' · .. . . '· 10
e~ch othe~;· " · Akenside sees both ·Pindat and Miltciri as proof ,of : : : :·. ' .. · .. .
' · • • • • • · . . • ' . ' 0 . : . . : . ' ' • • :
· · .nitive English , po.et of ·the suQlitlie :. . . ·. ,. ·. . . . .. .-;. . . ·
. , .. ,
~ .... .... · '
·4 ··. . while each·westeni: clime . . · ~ ....
,._
. 'Present's her. tuneful sons''t~ Time.~ · . .. . so ~ark' thou Milton's : ~ame; : · ·
· And add • . "Thus. dfff'ers from th~ throng · · - : · --. :; Th~ 'spir~·t which informed· thy awful song·. . · .
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' '• .·· Which bade thy potent ;wice . p_rotect thy · country~ s . ·
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·.· :·In ' po_iriting out Milton's ·high .example .to Engl.ish.:poets iiY: ·th~ -- · . . .· . ' . . .. . ·· . . ' . . . .
·/ ·,··. ' · .. ' • .
·· .. · .. .. '"' .· .. ~ighteenth century_, AkEm.side is also- rexpr~~singhis · ow · a~pi.ration
··· . .
. .. ··
·.:
· ... . .. .,, ·9 . '.. ' . ' ' . ' . . ' .
. _ Charles. Theo_dore Houpt. ·Mark Akenside :·:A Biographical and Criti.c81 Study (1944; 'rpt. New· -York: .::Russell & Russell; 1970). -
.·.:· .. '
. .. ·. ' . ::· . . p; 122.· .· ·- : . ·.,:. ' .. . . ·.'
io · · . -· : ·· ~ ·. Poetical Works, ·:pp. 245- 6. · .. ...
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. . refiecte~· in ··.Akens~.d~ I$ ·. O'de·:: "To · sie~p' ,j . as: t e. poet ' invokes. : :· ' . - ~ . . . ' . . . .: . ~ . . . . \.. . . .· . . .· . '
· · · ':Mocyh~ufi '.·,aid 'in 'his. hope·· .of- 1!-.ttain:i.~g i•suc :·~onour~bl~ . vis:i,ons · · ,'. . .. . - . . . "::-.. : . - .. : . ' · .. ; . . ···.-: : . \ · . . . \ - /: - . . .. , . . ' ·. . . . .
.. • . • .. . 01. As _ soothed .great Milton'-s injured, ge''t (VI,).. The torie of · .. ·.· • · . ',. . . . . \ ' • '· r, •' ; .
' ., . mistic one•, ·a · .reflec- .-- · ["
•\ ~si~naey; and t~~t ,
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. ·,, . . ·the , b~:- ~'To Sleep~ if however,- .is not
' ' · .. ·_ ' · h~s · ·.age ·,has :i.n ·fl,'lct destro¥ed the visiona
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. · _'.·· .. ~ ;_ :_:.: .. :;: · · Od~ ;,~o ·. th~ Muse."· .. This ode r~·fiects Aken
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hat 'Milton mi·iQt .: : · · ~ .· . ~ ~··, ; ·. = :
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be ·aE!en in th'e . I .
ide's" ejection at' ': _· .. '\ . . . · . . . . . . .. - . . .
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· ., ~~e-t.'.express.es ids · nlEintai. angu;Lsh in ·his .ad ress ·to the mus~:
· ..
.. · '· .. . ·.·. .: .Queen of :ro; ~ngs, ha,~oniou~ - maid~ · :. ·-: i
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· ·Ah, why .. hast thou ·withdrawn ~y aid? Ah ,.·.why . forsake~_· thus . my
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·.With · iriauspicious damps opp;re sed? , Where .is the dread prophetic eat~
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c . Wi~h which my bosom wont to_ bert? ' . · .· _Where all the bright mysteriou~ dreams Of haunted groves and tuneful ~reams;
.. .. That ·wooed ~- ~el)ius ·. ·~o -~i~inest tli~me.~ ?.: . . : ' .. ·;·:·o :· ..
·· } ,'
· . ... . T~~ like "dread prophetic heat' ' and "bright steriqus . dreams" · · ·· '.j.
. ' ~ . . .
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. _[ . _· . ··' in 'th~se. :i ines,indicate. that · ·~ensfde/~elleves tru: poe.tic insp~r.:.. :· .· '·· . . . ' - . .. . . . .
. ~ : ' ·.' . · ation to be p_ropheti'c and .visionary. : , ' . '
He ·realiz s, · t~erefore, ~hat I " 't .·. ;
.· . • : . . · _neo.;~iass:i._calpoetry 1~ . ~ poor . sour~e . of ~?spi.r t~on fo~ _.the" kind· '
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. · ·i • poets ~an ~pply~e desired inspiration·, · -Neit er. the "festaf '; . .i ·, ·' I • . • . · .' ' ' / . •
. . .: boa.rd, •r no~ .. 'iyo~g :Qly~pj,~_"s fobn~ 11 ·symb-61~ for .th_e inf!uenc~ ;oL .'. , . .
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inu~e_; s. favour· ·fo·r · Akemside ·at this t:·~me:
.·.
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0 'po~erfui . s"t~a:in! .· 0 ·sac·red soul!·._ . His numbers_ every s~nse control: ·.
And now· again my bosom burns; ., . · :the -Muse, the Muse hers-elf 'returns •.
. , • ' • · 0 • .
. ~uch · on _ t~e"' banks of Tyn·e confessed, I hailed the fair lmmort'al; guest,_-·. · . . , . ' I . . When·., first she sealed me for .he.r o.wn, Made aH her::blissful· treasures ·known~
· ~d-:bade ~e' swear to follo'V{ He·r -alon~:- '
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t '• " I ' ~ ' , :. . ' . . ' . ·.'~ ~-.. {-. ;,~.· .. TI;ie· .Ode ~'To :the MU:se, II therefo_re, is not only s:i.~Hica~t f~r .its ~~ -: ,·-~ · ' · '.: -~- :·.: '
. ' . . , · ~ .• . • • • . • . . • • : : . ~ : ,: ' : • . ' t
declaration of Akenside's desire to e~erience · visionary inspira-' ' . .•·· .. ' : . ·:: .
''· .: .. ,,_. . ": ,·· ... -..
. . r· tion, but . also for · it~ emo.tionai t?=ea~niei1t-· of the. thi'l!!-e of los.t ·. · ·. . . .. . · .· . - : . " - ·.. I . ,. · .. .
i '
poetic energy. ·Indeed, i't~y 'be .s'eC:m 1£ 'this ·ode th~t ,for· Ake~.:. ·}l:j
side' ·the pain of 'Jl· ,~·fiigid ; imaginption · is the shai:pest ·~f all . . .. · .. ,_\-· . . · .·· '
,_ ·
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p'~ilgs~ · :' .
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· · . · · -· Bec'auae · Akenslde sees the creative ill).puls_e as a .spontaneous ..
· .. aqd · ~~~siEmt · ~~ti t~~,.the .r~turn .of ·, h.is , po~t~c '_pbwers ~ft~~r an. "_,·_ . ,
. . ·. ·' ' . : .....
', .
Unproductive period is Slways an occasion for celebration in his
odes. . .
For e_xample·, .tli4! Ode. "0~ · Re~overlrig f:rom a :J:it of Sickness; ,.. . /
' • , • . , . . ·:' .. 'in the country" is an interesting comment on: die way Akenside .
' • · ~ 't • ' I ~ · ..
receives his' : PO~ tic inspiration. : Th~s ode,- an ·epithalainium to. ·, ,· . · .. ·-
• · •• 1 •• • •
: ·: . . :/ . .Je-remiah ·Dyson and his . bride, is an ·example of ·the "half pa~tor.al · .....
. . . . 0 ~ . ·• -~ . . •
• ··--~ • ~d~-s.tudi~us" qualities ~h~ch .:G.B ~ . -S~ust~;r: ·~~es_· i-n Ak~~Sidll' ~.:. ,_ . . : , J I '• , , ' ,'
_iyri~ _ yetse}t The ode i s addresse-d · to · t h·e · ~ 'verd&it . ~cenesi·, of · _ _. : ··l • ~ • • - : . I • • • - II • . . . . . • . .- '. -:: ' •• .: .'
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, .' ~uld~r1 s ·'fliii, the home o'f Dyson. ; . . \ .
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47 .
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, · Akenside . was i:i frequent gues't . '
- · . ." · ·, i.at 'GOU'l~er 1 s Hill, and on this particular oc'casion he is there:·
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. conval'escing . after an illnes13: 1 ' .
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How gladly 1 mid .the dews ·oi dawn, ·.BY weary lungs · thy healing gale, The· balmy west 'or the_ fre~h north, inhale! How gladly, whiie my. musing footstepsr' rove Round the cool orchard or . the sUriny lawn, · · Awaked I· sto·p, ~nd loo.k .. to find
What shrub perf~es the pleasant wind, Or what wild · s.ongster · chams' the Dryads of the
. . . ' grove! ' ·'
··en:.)
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In ~hese lines Akenside_i s se'!lsitivity to the charms of nature is
reflected. . ~ . And as the ode p~ogresses~ we may · see that communion
With n~ture iS a neceSSary COndition for Akenside IS pOetiC inSpir-
•' .
....
· ation. • f o ,' ~ ' I ; .
Thus, as Akenside enjoys the ;healthful and pleasing natural ·
surroundings at' Goulder'.s .Hill, he is viait'ed by_ the goddess of / '
health, ·who is accompanied by the "heavenly Muse~ unseen for many
' a day II I (IV.) . The best lines in the ode I are those in which the ·-
return of the muse is celebrated:
' .
. In; that soft pomp, . the tuneful maf'd \shone like' the g~lden star of ,love.
l s·aw her hand in o•reless measures move; .· I heard 'sweet preludes -dancing on her lyre, while my whole frame the sacred sound obeyed, '
New · sunshine o' ~r ·my .J~ancy . springs, .New co:lours clothe external things,
And the last . glooms of pain and ·sickly pldnt ·retire . . • . . (V.}
~ •. .,C\ -'
)
The theme of re~urning poetic energy often raises. the emotional - . ·
·quality of Akenside'S ode s to an e'cstOti~ 41itch, a a ":"Y :~e ·witn~Sse~ . ~ ·
. i~ ~he preceding 1ines. .. .
This ode- is veri sl'gnificant bec_~use. it
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·• ' . . ·ode nature is portrayed as the perpetual source of revftalized . \
· .. po~'tic energy:. As · a result, Akens ide often uses nature in his ' . . . . .. . . . • .
. odes a~ a symb_ol ·for - uninllibited ly,r::i.c e~ression. . . . . l .
·, . ~~side's natu~e lyrics are · as much about his diffi'rulty · 1), • • ! •' ••
. with lyric expression as ~they are about nature. In these1 odes . ·.r
· .'.nature· is seen as a powerful influence) b~t Akensid~, because of . ! . ' • . ' .
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times un'~eceptive of nature's inspira-·'
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his __ own ment~l state,·· 1~s · at ' . . I
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· .. d.onal charmS.. ·The Ode "To the. Honourable Charles · Townshend; · fr~m · r ' .
• I
the Country,"- reflects . a .'prob.lem -wh:i.ch is often the burden ·of Aken-
side's 'nature,lyrics: · 1 . ' . ' ,
.. /"
..
.o.fi\I J~oked .forth, and. oft · ~dmiredi . Till~~th the studious ~volume tired
I sought the ·open day; And sure, . I cried, the rural gods EXpect me 'in . their . gree~ · abodes ·, · .. An.d .chide my ~ ~ardy lay. ·
·But · ~h! i&l vain my res tf~ss feet Traced every silent shady seat
. Which knew their ,forms of old: Ng_r Naiad, by .her fountain laid, Nor Wood-.nymph. tripping through her glade,
;Did now their rites· unfold. ' · · I. .
(III-IV.) . l
. .
The ~nability to'summon up an enthusiastic l ~ :
response to nature, seen in
the,se l~nes, is for Akensid~ .tant;.amo·un~ to a loss of creative energy • . . . . . ~ . . . - . . .. . . . . In the · Ode ."To Townshend" -it is "grief of love" which. prevent_s the .
poet from · enj oyirtg communion with nature, for ''The ~yes of care
can never view" (VI.) . the rural .god~. His nature odes repres~n t a
kind of poetic liberat.~olil f~r Aken_side, ·but· at· the sa~ time hint;
at' his dissatisfaction regarding his lyric expression. ·From these . . ' . .
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. odes ··one ·gets tJ:le Impression tha~ Aken·s~de believes his · own temper
. · ament t6 ·be unsui.ted for ; lyric poet·cy, · Th'e difficulty appar~nt in
these odes' . however' is not pecuiiar to A;kenside ·. i_ri the . eish~e.ent-h ' . . ' . ... '
century. H is rather 8:, symptom of the: poetic ~terility' of "'\ . .
. . . . ' . ' , · . Age ·of Reas_on, and is shared b~ all poets in the pe~iod who
the
aspire
·. tO attain' a more truly clyrical S~yle, Akensid.e I El ' nature OdeS J ' . I " ' ' , '
· therefore, are si~if:j.cant no't only because they· reflect the poet's
preoccupation with · his own poetic problems., but also be~ause .they
. ~~~'meaningful counnents on the lack of lyric inspiration in the
age.
Akenside' s celebrated . Ode "T9 the Evening Star" ·mar_ be read
as .a · symbolic account of. the ·poet 1 s struggle to attkin -the kind .. Of ,
.uninhibi.te9. lyric style to· which he aspired. This poem is a :
remarkable eight~enth-cen~ury forerunner of such Romantic lyrics ·
as . Keats·' s . · "Ode , to a Nigh t1ngale," to which it has b'een compared . . ' ' . . . 12 in its situation and mood. The . compari~on, . however, ~aybe
extended to include symbolic ~eaning as well.. For example,. both .
odes are about lyric · expression·· in that their c;entral motif i s the ·, .
poet is inability, because. of worldly ·cares, to sing like Keats~~ . '
nightingale in "full..:throated ease." . r . . . ' .
. '.'To the Ev.ining Star" opens with an invocati:on .to Hesper, in ·
Whfch the reader . becomes aware' ~ f the'. pOet 1 6 Sad plight: ., '·. .
12 . \ J • • • ....... •
See. Arthur Pollard, "Keats ·and Akenside: A Borrowing in . . the 'Ode ·to a N~ghtiJlgaie , '." ·Modern Language: Revi ew, _LI (l956), 75~77. . .. .
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Alas, but· now. I paid my tear · · On fair ' Olympi~'s virgin . tom~? . : · And .. lo, · from tne~ce in quest I roam
·of Philomela 1 s 'bower . . · (IV.)
'The poe.t ·is seeking the nightingale Is bower bec~use
'. ' . that "music's healin-g ·charm I May soo_the afflicted
elieves . . :
Wh!"n Olympia shared the po~t Is 'evenin'g walks, 'the nightingale Is. ' ' . ' .
"enchanting Muse". was ... a ~onstant compani~n. · -But the Nightingale's ' ' f ' - ' ' t , • ' • ' , _ . - a ...
' . song, a : symbj~ .for care-free 'lyric expr~ssion, has no place ' in ~he
( '
_: ·gloomy pre,sence of the grief-stricken poet. Thus · the. bird l'eaves ·
•·,·
the "so.,tenm shade" (VII), . The central concern of the ode, . th~re-:~
fore, is the poet'~ ... inability. to. t~anscend the ca~es of his heart·· ' .- f' . . ' . . ..
so that he inay share the n-ightingale 1 s bliss • I .
. · As the poet·. wanders. through the evening slfades hi the ode · ·
· ' : "To .the Evening f?tar," he beco~es .a symbol ·r'or the poeti~ dilemni~ .
o~ his age. ·He longs tq attain ·the . unencumbered strains .. of .the
~ightingal~.ssong, , but is unable .to do so. With the aid of
~ ,.,.·\· H~s~r 1. s , guiding....light., .· howe~er, the 'poet. 'is ·fin-ally successful in ' ' .
. . lo-cating the bird' s cheerful retreat:
·_But hark; I hear. _her li'quid tone • . Now,Hesper, guide my feet .
Down there~ marl with mas o1 ergrow, . ·.Throug~- yon wiJd thic ne t tlte pla.;tn,
Whose hawthorns choke the: w ndi,.ng ~ane, Which leads to l;ler ret at,'_
I (VIII.)
. ~ ' ' '
~g~cumhrilllc~s .such . as the ''wild ·:thicke~"
· ' overgrown wH~ hawthorns ·may be seen as
and the :11winding lane" .. ·
sfmh~lic of t he' poe t ' s ·.
difficuity in writing lyric verse. /
And when:· the poet. finally B .
'··
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attains· .the ·nightingale's b·o~er, lie · se'es a syirlboli'c ·"greeti spac~ 11• · ~
·: " where, . in. total. connnunion with n_ature, he can ·once again enjoy the . , • , ·. . • r
· .blrd' s ··blls.sful song: ,' I ' ' '
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Ha~k, ho~ th~ough -~~~Y ·a melt':i~g note ~ . ' . . .
.. She now prolong~ her lays:. · : ·· How· sweetly .·down. the. void . they· fl~at! .
The breeze. t'Qei'r magic path attet;tds; T~e stars shine· out the fo.res t . bends;
The wakeful heifers ·gp.ze. 1
(X.)
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The . ni&hd.ngale' s ''melting note~'·· works like an anodyne which · · -. ' . .
soothe~ , .th~ poet·' B.- troubled . mind, ·. In this ment~J... s.tate he _can
• ~nee ~gain enjoy the .ecsta·ti~ str~ins 10f . the· bird' s soo'g. ·. The ode,
'there·fore, .is a symbolic ·ata'~ement of the poet'~ desire to· exP·er-
. . ience·. a · truly .uninhib.ited .1:-yric style, as well as an · acknowledg~-
_ment . or hi~· in~b1li-ty to . d~ so. Akepside' s Od~· ·"To the Evening
' Star11 has .been" seen as a symbolic attempt to· find · a "developmental
" . .
Pa.ttern" ~or p~~ttir at this time in its history· .. 1 ~ And ··.this tY.Pe :. ~ · . ~ .
of reading of the od~ is · certainly . supported by the' theory of.-: I
aesthetic~ wh-ich AkE:mside .puts forward in . The Pl"easures of !magi-'
nation~ At ~ny rate, in t~e ~ way ~hat ~enside uses nature as the
background . for his _symbol:i.c excursion •into hi s own· c~nsciousn~sei;
·. the Ode "To.' the Evening Star" is a significant ancestor of the . I
Romantic· nature-lyric. · . .
. "T.o the Eveni:ng Sta,r" marks ' the culmin!ltion of Akenside' s .. ~..:
13 ' ' - ,: ' ., . .. ' . . . . . Geoffrey H •. : Hartman, .. "~flections on the Evening Star·: ·.
. . · . · :
.:·· · Akens ide_ to Coleridge," in New Perspectives 'on ·coleridge arid Words-:worth, · eq • . G. H; · Har.tman (N~w York: · Columb~a University Pr.ess, 1972)_, · p.~ 87. - . '
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· ·development . as a lyrist. - .
None of his other odes reflect the
gliuuner of pr'omise for unencumbere-d lyric verse that may be . . . . . ;
I' \ • detected· in "To ·the Evening Star." _And yet, , this ode . seems ·at ·the
. ' ... ' .
same time tto . suggest Akenside·'. s realizaHon that the kind of poetic
. st~l~ to ~hich ·h~ ·- as.pires· is beyond his ~bility~. · For e~ample, :in
the Ode -"~o ~he Eve~ing Star". ideai lyric expr~ssion· , represente.d
,by 'the nightingale' .s song, is experienced only · vicariou~ly by the ·.
. · p·~et./Akens.~d~ ne~e~ managed to ~v~rco~e hf-~ difficulties ·with • '- . I .. .
lyric poetry. At any: rate,_ the .. edit.ion of his ·odes which ~as
published in 1760 is short by five of the "twice-twenty" he had,
. . . ', . -, 14 intended to write. . I
Akenside' s . greatest contribution to the development of the
. Englis~ lyric may'·be seen in his. use of the sho.rt, i~timate ode as .
a mean~ of resolving his own personal and literary concerns. .For . . .. . .
in this regard, he i_s ~oving away 'from tli_e c?ncept of i~tat:J.on
.toward the ideal of individual exprlis_sion. ' Akenside's influence :'
o~ eighte~~th-century 'i~rists ma)r' be seen · in t~e wide use of -t;he ·
' . "lesser" ode by poets such as Gray and C!)llins. Indeed, the ·. . . .
' ' · "r'omance-~ix"· stanza which Aken~ide · ad~pted to t he Hor~tian ad~
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. was used extensively in · the ·cen~ury, 1and was to become a ' .f~vourite
·of ·w· • d. h 15 or swort • Akenside'a inf luence, however, may be s~en to' go
t • 14 .. . .· . _ See Houpt, p. 157.
_,
15 ' . . . · See Oswald Doughty, English Lyric in the Age of Reason
(New_York: .. Russell & . Rrsell, . 1922), p. 113 • . · Cf. ~org~ Sa1:ntsbury, Historical Manua of··English.-Prosody (19~; rpt. London:
·MacMj,.llan .and Co., 1926)," .P·. 198.
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CHAPTER ·ru· ·· /.'· ...
. . • · · AKENSIDE 1 S INFLtiimcE ON WORD.SWORTH ANn COLERIDGE .. . ,·.
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As young poet~ . attemptirig · to, -~rticula't~ what we~ often'.
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. shadowy n .otions: into a syst~~uc· litefar-Y t~eory, Wordswol;'th . ·an~ · ·
C~leridge found Ake~sfde '.s . P;tea~~res of Ima.ginci..Hon t~ . b~ a. :· .. . '
· ' ''
·'
I '
. . ' ,
. valuabte work. . For 'the; discov:~red that .-~~n~fde had treated. ina~y: : .· . ,
: . ' .. \:. :. ·., i~sues whi~h· were at .the. h~art of .their own poetic creed. · Wo~ds-
... . .· worth \ay be seen to have b:7ne:Hted ~reatly f;om Akenside' ~ spec;~~
· ·: ·. . ~~bon tonce'rning i~agina~,i~~·~ s . ~~~ ·~n humari perceptio .~h· is>".:: . . therefore, little wond~r that · The . . . . ~en . . ; .
jot .. c~.ns;l..derable tn't.erest to Wordsworth ·also were Akens ide's views· on
·.·'. . .
seen 'oy A.F~ Pott~ 'as an important •mod¢1 for The Prelude';
·.-,I . .... ' /, .
·,.
. ·I • . _ .
. ethics .and 'moral philosophy, indicated by ·the innumerable: ei!hoe~ .
o~ · Attenside i~ The Excur.sio~. ~ . For .. ~oleri'~ge, who .wrote that
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' • '.i·· ... metaphysics and· ~sycholpgy have long ?een_ my ~obby-horse, "3 ~
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.... ' . Pleasures of; Imagination· was a fascinating poeni~ C~l~ridge saw · : -
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. Abbie Findlay Pot~s, · Wordsworth's 'Prelude: · A · Study of· Its · Literary Form (New York: Co~ell University ,Press, 1953).1 pp. · . 244.;.78. . ; . ... . . . ,, ' ' . !
I ·2~ee j~d.s~n s~· i;.cn;· The. · E:~cursion: A. · study .(19.5.0; · rpt·." ., Hal)ldim, .:: 'connecd~cut: . Arc;h~n. B~ks, · 1970), pp~ ~2-3 •.
3 .·. S.T .. Coleridge, Biographia Literaria, ed . . ·.~ · · (L.ot'\qon; Oxfc>'rd 1Jniversiy Pr~s~ ' · 19~7), 1, . 62 •.
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·.· The Pleasures ,of :i:~aiinatiou" · as a · manifesi:ation._bf.'just; .the ri~~t
:,balance ,in· a philosophicai poem between 'what' he calls "head. and . ' 4 fancy."
. ·'· I . . - . . . . . . . Ak,ensi"de ~ s style. _was not the only_ 'reason, however, for
Col~ridge'-s interest in The Pleasu~es o·f . Imagination~ :·,.As_,not-ed. in.; .' .· . . . ' . ' .(
. an ~arlier 6hapter i ~ Akens ide's theory_ of 'imag-:i.nation is · a Cl~se r i' · ·
. fprerunner of the ROmantic concept of t!lis mental . fac_· ulty. J .
And
Coleridge may ,be seen . to owe a great deai ·.to·. Akens ide's 'theq_ry :·
. .. , ' 'regarding imagination's. rol~ in human perception arid artistic . . \ . .
..
.. :. ,creation • . · At any _rate, .there is sufficient evidence. to indicate
. · \ ' . . . . . . thpt The· Pl~asures of Imagination had a fu~damental · influen~e' on ·. ·. : ·
of Wordsworth . and' Co1eri!lge •. . 'f . " I
A. - Wordsworth
, '
Many· ct;'!ritral ide~.s in The Prelude · and The Exc..ursia·n originate ,.
with the dei~tic .phFosophy which underlies the . th~ory ·of aes~he'ucs, .. -. . . . . . . .
·. · :i.'n -The Pleasures· ·of Imagination. The. theory elaborated in' The· . . . --· Prelude concerning ·the natural sublim!a as · divine . revelation may: be :_
seen . tQ owe a gre'at de.al to the deistic . concept of nature as . repre- . . , . . . . . .. . ' . . .
sen ted in Akens ide Is p'oem • . :We have seen . th.at Akens ide ' sees nature
- .. as _the worldly man.f .. f_estat_ion of divine harmony, and . Wordsworth -. also •
·' .
, I
maintains' that,ih contact ·with
·The · i:de'a . that _the ,•
nature, man may attafn ... spiritu~l
v~st.' arid -~aj-~t:J.-c spect·a~le~ which
.- -· r become · an apocalyptic experience .- . ....... .... -; .. . . . . '
. , ~on~i-~u~e :tl)e ~~tural sublime m~y . ·': I·,
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· ,. · Collected 'Letters of ·s;T; Coleridge, ~d. · E.L. G:riggs _ . ( , ::·' . . . ,': (oXf,ord: T[:le C1a.rendon· · pr~~s, ;1956), . I, 197 ~ / .. , ~ : . ' • - . :_
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for . imagina~i'l(e' _human_-·b,eings: .. app~ars .often. ·in The P~elude. Such: . . ~ ' . . '
~ ' . . . . ! ,• : ' ~ . ' . .' • ' ' ' ' ,.. ' . ' . 4
'deistic concepts'· found tht:oughout Woriisworth ~ ~ 'poetry may · be seen .... ;' •' . . . .
to . . some: extent as a ril~nife'station of ' Akensid~ '8 ::i.nfluen~e. 5 :·, The ·.''
1 / . :. . ', '· :r. . .. I ·. ·.· ', · ' . '
~- es~~:nt .. ~a~/i:~~cfp~es . of . ~-e~m __ may : have . be:n avai~ab1~: to. tfo.~~~-wo:rt_h .·
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·, . .. . · .:· .
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.··.·. · .· ·. in .. tlie philoS<?phica1-.and ' tlieolog'ical t ,reatises of the· eighteenth
· . .-. c~.n1tury, .'bu~ as A. F. Potts argues .. ~ he . would have· foun'd The Pl.easures' · , , I
. .·· . .... ·. . .·· . ' . 6 ' ' . · ·. of. Imagination "more ass.~ilable" than these. A~ -:any' rate, the
' .·.
/. • I ' · innumerable echoes of Akenside found throughout Wordsworth 1 s poe tty ' ·
~ ·' .
. :'.tend to substan-tiate thi·s· view-• .. F\irth'Emnore' , . th~ :.~~y .P.arts of· · ' .. . . . . . ' .
: Ak.e·~side' s . argument ado'p .ted _by Wordsworth and ·reworked 'in The
-Prelude and :The Excursion 'indicate hi::' g~eat respec~ for··the J . ·. p
··' '
. ....
. , . . .
· . 11 . · ,
A collation of · The Ph~¥ures of Imagination anci' The ·Excursion-. _ ·.
will ·reveal ~hat · they · h~ve. many subjects.'in coD11llon. In :the "Pros-· . • • • • • . • f . ·, .
··: pectus'l to The Excursi-on? Word~wo~th states · th~t he .. intends to · ' . •' . .
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:·::_of . Truth, .of Grandeur, Be:auty, 1<?ve and Hppe·; .. : · · .. :·_:_.· And ~ljm:choly 'Fear subdued by .Faitn; ·
. Of . blessed co~solation· '.in ··distress; 1 . : . . .
<.u. 14-:-16~ / ' .. . ·.'V' ·, I
.; .
' . ·.· . ·' .
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· · · :··.:·;·_ : ··· /' .. ·. ' .5~iiliam. H~:ue~ ma:i.ntairis that the Romantic '-'~atur~-poeta~' ·.are indebted to Akens':l!de for their concept of .miture . as a d iVine··.
·manife_st'ation. · . Se~ .The ·Early Life of ·Robert Southey·, pp. 107..;i!~: .
.. · . . '.' ' . ;".
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~ . . . · . . , ·· Cf~ · - C.A • .. Moore, p.· 89~ - 1.
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6 ~otts, p. '247. · .. •.
.' '-. ' 7Th~ · Po~t~cal. ~orks o'f William Wordsworth, ' ed. E • . De Selin~ court. and-H. Harbishire : (Oxford: · The ·Clarendon I'ress;. 1949), ·v •. 3~ .(Ail subsequent referen~ea' ' to ·The · EXcursion- are fi:om· this edftion.) . .
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·_-·In ·!:hi{: rev:f:sed ·Pleasures of -Imaginai:ion ··Aicenside- invokes) 'Truth". . . .· . . ~ ·I
· as· the ; 11h~ayenly ausp_ic~" ·.of li:i.s own "perilotis _'excursion" ·(n,· - - -_ ' ,. ' . . - ' ' -· '· ' ' ' : ' -' - ., .: '.- ' ' . '
, : · 43..:44) ._ .. ,.: ~s ·r have shown,_' '"G~~deur" and. '~Beauty" are two of the · /
' -_Addisonian, orders to ·.~hicJi Akenside drv~tes liook. I of . hi~ -~oem'.
.... Tlie them~ · which Wordsworth denotes 'iiS "bl~ssed · consola tiona in '
. distress'i is·. an issue wh'ich ·Akenside -treats in his ·a,llegocy of
' . ~ ..:..,
.._ . . , '
· :. - Harinodius. The ju~tificatio~ of ·_evii ':i.n. the '1best -.of all' possi-ble: • ' . ·, t ., • ', ' • '. . - . " ' .
: . ·:: . worlds'~ of the_ optimists, a m~j:o_r concern _bf eight:eenth~century ·
~he·~~oCie~. 8 is ari i.s'sue whibh no didactic poem :iri: the t=entury can .' .
· ignci~e. . .. . '.
';.
· Tn~~e is._ a retn:arkable siinil~rity · between Akenside' s ·and.-
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,Wordsworth's approach _to ·_the issue concerning_ the place · o~ evil _in .. ·' . . ' . . . . '. ' . , . .. ' . ·.··· .. L ' ,• 0
. · . .. I Cl ' • < '
·. ~tne world.·_ · To __ ·treat this. qt,uistion -Akens ide introduces the. Sage~ · 1• • •
. . , ' •,
Ra-qnod:ius, ~ho - ~s led thr:ough 'his,:""own ~e~sonal ·· trage~y to .question . . . . ~
' •,'
I o' , ''. -·.: the ways o-r J?roVi~ence. In. the -revised · version of The .Pleas'ures
.-. . ~
of lmaginat'ion, however, the .allegdry o:f Harmodius is replaced hy .
the tale_ of · Solon, t~e "last and wisest" (III, Jl)·\of the fathe~s:
of ·.ancient Greece. The· Solitary .of Wordsworth's Excursion ma}' ··be
seen .as a <:;ombination of Harmodius and Solon in the· :~rly ·and .
/- . ' I '
t ' ••
/. -rey-:l~ed ~ers.ions, iespectivety~~ :: of Akeri~:t~e's_ .. P6~m._· .·Like Ha~u·s'~- : _. ·
' the Solftary flouts the di:vi!le ·achem~ 1 of th~ wp:tld 'because -of a . -i •
. •: -'tragi'c 'incident in his life_.': . Lqso, ·the . Solitary' s· e~i-le- from
· socieJ:y 'is~ like Sol.on 's,·. seif:-imposed. - Wo~dsworth' s· ex~minat:i:on' .. ·· . I
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• .'# ~ . .
... . 1
' • . . .. .. / ·' '' !.-
. ' •
' . '' ' · ;, •. ·.
.' 't ',
· I / _-
' . , . · . · ·.' . . · ' :'". .. ··· : . ' , - .
· · .. ' , · .
.··· .:.:
--' ' ....... ~ : :;·:. ~- - ' ' ' -: ;:
·.· : .·· ·· ., . . ' . ! .
.· , • .
.. .. ·. .· ..
' '· . . ., : , .
,, , ·.· ., , , . --:, , , , ·:::· ::.::, , .. : ·-• ·-_- ~ ~~ ,:::·'~·:.~ .... ":·•:'·':'·•.":'";_''' ;, : c;'""~:.~ '•': >:.-.~ ~<' · :>·-~~ ''-~'"":':'--~:0.~\~~: .. ~lJA'lY, ~---·' !,~:;,<_; ~; '',.~<--' , ·--~·;i f~ .'t;'<~<i:~~~;:{(:;]_'l:;~·: }f::.';,:;s j ,
-,.
::
,. ·
' .. . ~ . . ' ,. · ,··· · .. .
• ~ ' . : • •• .. • • ' -. ••• : · .~·:· .... ~ "'l,: ;· - '
.... ... .· .I
. , . ; i l ~
/ I
/. I: .
' ·J ·
. '
·.· . .. · . . .
. -. · ... 58
-(J . ''
/:' ' •.
: ' ~. I ' . .- ·,,, ~
· .. ..
)
' -of: evil in the 'form. of the ··solitary'.s tragedy, therefor~-,- may be
' .· _ . . . / • ?
seen· as simiJ,aF_to· Akf?nside' s":·{ his · ailegory·o~ ~armodius· /~~d .tale
of; .~oi~n~· and . the ver~ai ~~h7 a.:~e usu~_lly _ avai:iabl~ : . to · i~d-icate ,.
Wo~_dtinvorth 's de_bt. Beginnin·g hi~- tale of . Solon ·~: ·1\kenside_. ask-s, .
_:Wliat. tongU:e- -then·-trui.y 'exp-lain·- the:~ · · ·· · :· vatious faie - · · · ·
' : ... ' .. ~ .. 'Which, reigns Q! er earth? or who to ' · · ·. - . . . mortal eyes . . ·'
· ·· Illustr'ate ·'this perple~ing labyrinth. . . . . · . . /· . :
. Of. joy. and woe·, through vhich ~he· feet -of man · ) . · · A;re' doomed to· wimder?
... - .-:(III ', 1-:-5)
. . . . . .· Thi~: v~ry .~n ti~~n tis ~xpresBed by ~~.,IS1'0 rth' s sOli e~ey aS . Oe
.. ' • •. .. J , . ,
. / I.
,;· ·
.. :-\ ... / ':: . ' . . "
\ .
ponders, ' ..
~ • ,' ' '.I ' I
· · Through what perplexing labyrinths, 'abrupt · Pre-cipitations, and untow'ard straits, · The. -earth-'born ·wanderer hath passed;, and quickly,
-rh_at resp1-t't; o'~r,. like tr'~verses · ~nd - ~oi·ls ' . Mu~-t ·he again encounter. . · · _ , ·
. . .. '_ ~III, 9.82:...86)
·:·
. .. ..
·- .. . '
· The ·verbal echoes · iri this passage are ohv:i.ot.is enough to indicate ....
\•.
Compare Akens ide's ·· phras~ ·a definite borrowing . from Akens ide·. ·
"Il'lustr~te this perplexing. labyrinth" wi ttl Words~orth' s "Thro.ugh . . ·.~ ' ' . ' ' . . . . . . . . .
-~h~t- ·- perpi~xiJ;lg - labyrinths'~ and Akensid~; ~ ,;through whtch. ~-he feet ·: .. . . ' . . ·. . ~·!':\., , '' #
•· ·- ~£ ~n-- / Are.;d.ecmed - ~o ~ande~" with. Wordsworth' .. s .'.'The earth--be~ - · . ·· ·- ~-' .
!·
.... ' '
. .:.-- wanderer hath pass~d." · Throughout Wotds_wor~h' s argu~ent ·concerning ·.
--~· ' the place of "evil :i:n the ·world .many of the same -kind of verb~l ·
I,
.· · echoes. of ' Akenside ·may be 'found.
,_ . .: . .
_ .•
\
.. . ..
...
/ _
/_.
'·-
/ ' "
•• • <• , ' ' .
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·.·
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... - "' · · .... . ; .
t - . ·: · '·
'
·i . .! . . . • ! .·' ·. ':1) •'
:• ' :-.,
...
' .-
i
·-· '• ·.·
.. · ...
- '- ~ -
" -
• •• • • • ,. • .. • •• • J • • '
... A similar rewo:t:kili.g of . part's of Akensi'de •·s plan -_in The ·. .· • . .";I ·
',;·
• ' .
: ·
: . ·: ..
:.· ·. · . . ,,_ ·.;
' ' ' : ~9 ' ' ' Pleasures of 'Imaginati on ~y 'also· be seen . iri The ' Prelude • . · · Aken- ·
-~-
.. : .. , ' / '
·., 1':';''
' .· . · .. ·, ' - : .
' ·, ~ • • l , .
·, '·. ', ·· .....
· . .' ; : ,··
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. . •. ' ...
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. 'I.·
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··~· · · · . . .. ·~.'- .. - " . • j :59 .
I t • • • '
,: .':~- - t;de 1 s .. p.rcipo~e4 ai~, as· e:xpt~ssed ;i~ ·_.tlie·f~u~th:· Boo~ ~f th'e ?;~vised · , • :' f•
version of ·.his. poem,·. is :roughly ~hat· Wordswo.rth ,accomplishes in. · . . • .. ', .. ' ' ' • ' ' • • I', • • ' ' I • :
• · The Preltide. i .n ·. the ea~~iy : v~rsion' of · The - Ple~sures ~.[ Imagi~tion ; . ' .
p .. Akenside inve.stigates the nature a~d - function of 'the mat.ure poetic . · ·. . . . . . . / . . . . . .
' . .. ,·
imaginatio.n, . but ·~e~lec_1[9 to consider ._the part :·piayl_'!_d by _the po'et ~ s .-.·· . .
,, ea'rly- ~xpedenc.es in . shaping the .po~ti~ ' faculty,1 an oversight' whi~h-·~ . ·:~ .. ·.· .. . · • . · . .. -: _ . . . ·.· ·;. . ·. ~ .. ,\ . "/- : . · .. . -- .· .... · . . . :was to . be rectified in the revised .poem. · :Aken~ide indicates this. ··.· ·
' • J /
·.···:· in.:.li~s stated ~nt~I}tiori of '·'the · ~·ec~et .. P~~ _l· ?f - e~r~y g~niusto · · _.·(· . • . ' . ' . 1 . .
e~lore11 : (IV, 20-21-). ··Many critics have noted that the unfinished
·. ·fourtb .book o~ the ·revised ple-asure~ ·of· Imagination··anticipate's . • ;:'1 • , · <l() <;o
. . . 10 c:Iegree. · The foreshadowing •
. : . ., . · Word~woith .' s. Prelude to. a remarkaple
. of Wordsworth in this Book is seen not", only, i~ its proposed aim of . • . I ~ . . ' ' '".
·o ..
t~acin~ the development of the poetic. i'~aginat:to~; but also in· its · . ' .
. ~belief : t[;lat e~ly inte~COUt'B~ w:i.ti~ n'ature help.S ·tO tnd'~d_ ~d. fCiste'r I ·
, ,' . . , • · ., ' . I ' . ' . ! . ' - , • '• . , . . . , ~ ' ' ,
.. . _· ... j---:-~-
i . . J • ·,
; . ·
_,. . '·.
\ ·' .·- .
.· . ...:· .-· . ' . ' ..
·.:.:-.r .
• ! • . ' ~ '. '
.,·., ., .
~ . :
.·' :··· · t~e: poets' . creative powers, Ak.en~ide, ::p~yEi tribute to the 11stud·i~s ..
... ...
I ' '•,'
o ·
... . wh::l:cli ·pos~essed· " [him] in the dawn I of life," (IV·, 49.:_SO) as -h~
• • • • ' o I •
"' fondly remel)lbers his youtpful jaunts al.ongl t_he bank~· . of his· native : o
' 0 ' . --
.•· · ... :.{ l~:.r .
l\o.w · gladly i recall your well-known seats, Beloved ·of old, and the delightfu~ time .
· When, all alo:n'e 1 for many ,a .. SUmmer 1 .S day; , · I wandered . through your ~alm rlicesses~ led In s:f.lence by ' som¢ powerful hand unseen. ,
. · (IV~ 41-45)
-. ' , . :. ·.•·
'";- :
.. . .
• · .. , ' ' ·.I
.. .. -... .
.. ·,, ..
... . · ·-
•, . .
·I ....
:.•
P1eas.tires ~f Imagination in reverse; las.t, n p. 257 •
explorati'on. firs~>theory ) ·.· ·, : . . · .' .:· _· ·.: l ·. , . . -·~. :
• 0 • /
. I9Myra .ReynoldB sees on: p·assag~ in the: Jio,rt~ .-.. -~ide_'·s . ~o~~ . as · .ns'tri~ing~y ~o~ds~or~hian.~" _ P~:- :358_. :. ~< ' 0 ' • • • ·, • ' ~ · • '' ' ' ', I '
·<;; . . ' ',
··~ .. tl . . .. ··.· ·,· ' . . '.'. ', . .
'~ ·
.I book of Akep;., . .- --: . . ,.
. ' .• ,. ', '. ·). 1 . • • •
. .
. .a ·t'!, .
. . . . ......
.. , . ,. -
. . -
. fa .·
/·
.. ·. ' -.~ · .. . . ', ' .. c· . , ; a',
. . .... ..,
. ' )
. . , . •.' .• ' :· . •: . : .· ; .
·.: ·: ~\1-:;;
... . ' ' ,• • _. I ,'
; : . :; :··: . ':· , ; ··-· ·, ' · · ·,. ·: :· ':·' ,..; , · · ~~:···' '·:'· .. ·:-···.-. ,, . ..,:,-; ' ,,.,.;; •. ··' :·'~'· ':~"~;~·:::.,.:: .. , ... ~~;. •.;..~'i•.;,.~ ...... :>l\:.(~:_:.~ ~1"''"' :.:.. ;.·~:~ .''i:~:- ~·~~.-.:~·:~~ .•. J:;.·.~~.;d~Ji.!~~~~~;\.~.\,r/.<f .
·.· . • '. ·. ; '. . -'t ' ' • I.
. I · . ...: . ·: t . .
~ t. • .• \ : . . . _:_ . . :_ ... · -:·.·. ,.----,.-- ~·- ~_ ... ....:_:..::.....: .:-~~-·.- . ,:· · ·
· ..
"' ......
•
·· .. . ·. -~
'· ,/ . .... '
' .
... . · . .
' . . ·· ·
... ~
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.' 1:
. .. . • ... ·'·
·. .. .
... ;. ' ''\ ' '. ·'
':.
. · ... . · ..
'·.,; .. . ' .• . .' ' ~ . .. ... . '
. .. .· ' I ,•' 1 '·,• ' '
. 60 · . ,' ' ~ ' . . ,· . . ·· .... . ...
. . ,;\.~. ' ' )."" . ·.,; . ' . . . ' - . .•'· . . . :_c:----Tlte b~1ief ,.:.ptanif.est. in. these···lines, that nature has a mysterious : ... . . '
~n~iu~~c~.· ~·~ o~~ .ii~e~ ~ . possi~ly betrays the .origi~ of -~uch~.' : - t • "
: .. .. ' rot.
Wo~dswo~tli~·~ . theocy in ·The .Prelude. indeed, : s~ch dei~tic sentf..,o
. '
··. ( :"
. '
.. .... . . ~~~~ts~ ~~~~d · th~ough~ut . ~he Pie~sure~ of I~gination ~.~Y be-_.-s~·~~:·--~tQ/.-·· (r.\~-< ~ave : ~n~iue~ced . Wo-;.~s;orth grea~ly i~ his :vl~ws .. o~ "'n~~~re ~: . . . . ·. . ..•
o," ' I
; I
. . . . ~ · . ; The .. t~utol~gical argument.in·. Th~ .Pleas·ure~ ' of Imaginat'rci·n \ . · ·
• . - .. ' '. ': • l
, that· 'the benevolent Crea~or .p~ovid~s·_ . ;fo~ man'~: ··~~~r~·~ual ·as ,wel t ;. • .I
. as for h~s phy~ical needs;is Qften echo:ed 4n 'word8wort h.
· :~enside . and. Word~~o·r~h . b~iie~e. · in · divine . ~~t~~e~~·~o~·ift · ' l • . • • . I . '
Both
our · ·
'! .' . . •
. .. . · .
: ·' ~ .
. . . . '· •,
/·
1 • -• .' • -~ / •
· l;tv~s ~ . ~hen w-~ are faced with ·important'. moral decisions.
.' · j . . ~ .. \ .....
~.urther- '. :., · · :.· . ·. . ! . • -. \ .• - - .. .
. . ~ · ~,~ more, . for. :both poets' ~;his 'spiritual 'guidance works ~through : riaturei s . -· , . . .,. '. ~,' ' . .
. ' ...
... '
~' · . . .. ·
In The P leas.ures·. of. harmonizing . and inspirational;' influence~ \ . . . . . . :•
I ' ~
..
, I :'
Imagination. Ake.nilide assert'!? . tha~ ,nature·, .. .
.. ·.'I
•', ·. 'r
,. \ · -· \
1,.
... . · • ·conscious how inf.i .:i:'m Her . offspring t:i:ea4 the paths of good a~d: ill, ~Y ·this illustrious ·image·, in .. each kind . ~ .
· Still most:·illustrious where the object h9lds Its native pow:ers .most pe~fec~, she by · this : ·· Illumes the headlong ilitp~lse . 'of desire, . · . .' · · 'And san<:tif ies . his choice~
. ;
' ,1
·· ·.· ·· ..
" . · . . .. ; '·, :
' • ,•
'i ' .. ·~ ·': .
. . ~· .
.·,~ ' .· \ --·:··· ·
• ... ,.
· ~; . '
. '-·
.r·.:--
/
\." ... !
' I '' . · . (I, 3S7-64) . .. . • 0 .. · :
J ' I ~ •; ' · I . ' . . : .; . . . . . . . . -- . ~ .
.. · · :· . ·.~- Wordsworth also attributes: hi's ear~ spiri tuB.! .. de~elopment ·_to .;_.:. ' . . . . . . .
. (
. . ·I· I . . .
.. , -._nature 11 and like Akens ide believes that, · •: .... •"' , I : .· '. . '
· . . · • I ~ ' o 'J
. . .· . all of us in' some de'gree . · .. • :. t ,
·-~
...
. ·-: J • Are <},ed to .knowledge, whencesoever led~
·: ·· ;.,·: ' . · . .
.·.
. ~:s .
:' ·.·
· O o Q.
...
I , ,' •
•
t l J • / . .
' ... ·~· •.:. I • ,.
I •
0 .
.. ·"·
·. ' · ' ' .. •, o ·
:I
, . : And howsoever'; were it otherwise,· · / ·. And \iTe found' evil. fast . as we find . go~a·
In ·au'f first y~ars~ · or :think . that · it is found, " }Jow.·could th~ :i.nnoaent·.heart bear __ up 'and···live! 11.
. . (VIII,· 306"'711) , . '
·, ..
.... _~· .
. .. . ., . 11 . . . ·. . . . •. I . .-.'. • - . . . , • ' I . ,' . ' .
, . William. Wordsworth,, The Prelude or Growth of .:a Poet s Mind, .: .. .. .. ;' '' ·' ·. . . . .
. . ~ : ' .·· . .
• • • J . . . . ';· ......
. . .. ": ..
' · .. · '' .· . ~- ",·",
' ' ..
,<I ' ~
.. .
. . . : ......
• <
'
. . ' ; ,•: J I • I I:# .'· •' !. ::. .
. ·; .. . 1:
i', ,.' '
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: : ·. 1:1
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. · .'
, . .
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i ·. .,
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· f
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. ·.
...
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. \ .
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·. · . .. ' . . '' ' . ~ .. . . . ., . .. ' .... . .. '
) . ' , .. '
. I ,.. ... . . - 61 , .
I . . \ . , . ,.
Wordsworth's well-known theory, therefore, - that the ~sa~ctity of nature :makes men spirit~lly good,cleariy ha~ a precedent in Aken~ . /
side. · The deistic .. belief, that God makes himself manifes.t to man . . . : . . . • j' ·~ ::;
thro.ugh n~ture, and his faith in the divine origin ·of imagination,. . I -~
'assures Akers ide 'that, }
r . \. '. ('
. . /
• the men · t \
works can charm~ with G~d· : · • .p •
,h Whom llature 1 s himse.lf.
Hold converse; grow familiar, day by day, With hi's ponceptions, act upon his plan, · · And form to his,the relish of their soul s.
. ·(III, 629-33} .. . . . . . u · This idea is echoed many times _throughout The Prelude but it is
.. I . . ¢ •
·.
. • ti'
iii The Excursion that we may. find a passage which indicates a clear
I
debt to ·Akenside: I
the man Who·, in this spirit communes with the Forms Of pature, who with understanding heart· Both knows and loves such· .objects as exci~e No morbid parioris., "no disg\lietude, . . : No vengeance, and no hatred---needs must feel_
·. The joy of that pure principle of iove •• .- ·, (IV, 1208-14 }"
. . . t .
The · striking resembl~ce ·which this passage bears td the lines from ·, .
Akens ide,.- tends to strengthen the claim that Wordswo1;th is indebted
to Th~ · Pleasures of · ~sination for. t~e·idea that "man in c~ntact ...
. / . with nature may benefit spiritually. Many such ideas at the root·
I
' 'i ,.,; .,.
of. · Wordsworth's . ·great reverence f~r nature coiuc..i~ with Ak.ensi.de' s
I ·· :'
· ed. ·Ernest de ~ellncodrt (2nd ed.;-' oxford : Clarendon Press, 1959) • . (All s~osequent refer~nces to The Prelude are from tl},f s eClition. r . . . . ·.. : . . • I . a ' / ' : . • . ,
~ . 12 ~ ~ - I
See (II~, 419.;..52); _(v; 223-45); (VIII," 121-2_8)~ ·, . ' I
. \ . ..
.• \
· ' -I
I .
.•, .
., I
,·.·
· -:·
,.
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.! I .
'( . I . I I . i .I
I . ' ·I
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... ....
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' ;
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. ' ·
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.. ·.· ...... .... .. •,,•
.. , . ' . ·" ' . ' '
( •
. i
·•·. 62
poetical represent~tion of the natural religion. . /
Akenside's speculation concerning the role of . imagination in
h~an pe~'tion ar{ticipates much of. the· th~ory of~ the natural ·
.·sublime presented ·by W.ordsworth iii The -Preiude. .Believing imagi-
' . nation ~'to . hold a ·middle place between the organs 'of sense and the
I , • • ,
. . 13 fliculdes of moral perception," · Akensi~e·argues that this faculty
controis the, total shaping of the human'psyche. He makes the I
... ' ; '
·significant claim that our mental : facul~ies determine ' the· way in . , I
. :which w~ . pe,rc_e~ve' th~ natu~al w1rld ~hen he s t~es that,
·. Mind, min~ alone, (bear ''witness earth. ·and heaven!)· The l!vi~g fountains in .itself contains
. Of bea!tteous and sublime. . •• · . · . •. (I, "481-83)
These lines have been seen by ont: . critic ·as .l~epresenting the ten-r.... . ~ . .
'dency in ~he eighteenth century ".toward. the concept of creative :·
. · 14 . 'llerce~tion ~ "· . The ;idea ·that the mind- of man, or more specif;l.cally
his ~mag.~na~ion, is the rea~ .source of t:lie beautiful and sublime '
qualit1es ~hich he perceives "in nature, is a key concept ~n Aken-t '\ .
Bide's theory of a~sthetics. In ~h~ Pleasures. of I.niaginktion . (
Ak.em3~de ·. is especially c,on~~rn~d with. th~· distinctive way in which
" .' . highly imaginative individuals perceive , the natural world. These· . . ~ ' . . .
imaginative . ad~pts · glean experience fro~ nature of which less . . . .., .. . '? •.
fo~tunate: men are deprived. Akenside .argues that while all men : ~ .J
I . 13 . . •' . l
, Poetical Works, p. l .. ~1 •
14M. H. Ab.rams, The · M:f.rr~r aqci the -L~p· : Romantic Theory ·and the' Critical Traditi on (New York: O?iford Un'~ver~it}J :Press, 1953), . pp. ·,63-4. ~ ' i+ .,·~
· . .. ·. ' . ) . ·,
~\ \ .. .:., ... ..;::~ :.-~Y . .-·: '.~;·.:, ... ~~~':o~~~:.;.;~,.i·t .. ~:;.~~,\.: .... ~.~..·1:·.:.,~ ;."" :..,·~~:.:,,;. ~. ',. .~h ... i):: ...... i~;. ,~_.;.: .. ;~_i ·.·;: !L: .~;~.,_.·. ·~:~ .~ .., \·,_ .,...: : .. :· ... : , t ,;. .: < .,; • • :~;."; ··,,r, :: .. ,1 ·~ .. ·.~.'.-~ .. :·. , ·,c,•,·, .. -'-••• ·: . . - ,. ... . . .... ,..:,.,. . ... ,. :.;. . . . . ' I ' I :
' ' ·
·.
I
:.
,_
'• ,
,·
. .
. . ()
...... . \ . ' :
. ·.~
. '
. /
/
.. '. ; , ',
.. ·· ~.
. /
'' · ..
' ' ' •
' . - . '~ .. . · - ... . ...,. . ' .... _..- .
,, . '
. . · flnd spiritua'l refreshment in ·nature to · some ·degr.ee, \~llose . bless~d
. _I . . •,
with extraordinary imaginative powers are actually · afforded glimpses
of the infi.nite thro).lgh their 1ability to appreciate the sublime in . , I . . ..
the natural yorld (I, 96-101) ~ Wordsworth also argues that the
. v.ast and maj~stic spectacles in nature may. be ·an ·apocalyptic exper
ience for h:l,ghly imaginatiVe mindS, Akenside I 8 influence, may be
readily det~ected in t 'h'ose parts of The Prelude deB:lirig with the
'· ' . . ' --til
. conc~pt of the natural sublime as divine revelation.
Both Akenside and Wordsworth argue that the sublime exper~
ience. has spiritual as well as aesthetic ·value, because through it
the soul of man is momentarily reunited with its divine .origin; - . .-
It is a· sign of man's immortal nature, argues Akenside, that the
soul is constantly striving to experience the infinite. · Wordsworth
' . . also maintains in The .. Prelude t:hat "Our. de!;stiny, our being'. s . heart
and home, I Is with .infinitude'\t.(~r, . 604-5). Since the. natural . \ . ~ -
sublime is seen by, these ' poets as .the s~amp o£ the divine on -the
p~ysical worl~, they believe \hat ~e · soul in contact with the · ' •
awesome natural spectacles attains its . desired goal. In The Plea- '•
sures o'f Imaginat;on Akenside presents the idea that th~. human soul
· finds rest only · wit~nfinity: . .
Even on. the barriers of the world,"untired; She .meditates the eternal depth below; Till, half recoili~g, down the headlong_ steep She plunges;· soon .o' erwhelmed and swallowed up ' In that immens~ of being. There her hopes
· Rest at the fated goal. •' .·•
o.-:- . • . .. ·.-
And the following lines from The'Prelud in which Word~o.rth ·
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describ'es the effect 'of 'the subiime on th~ soul o:f.'man,,.. clea.rly
eclio Akens ide: . .. ''
• · jlt'e soul when smitten 'thus jy .a ~ubl:i.me idea, : \o'hericesoe'e.r . . .· \ . Vouchsafed fC?r union or communion;' fe~d·s · t;_. On the pure bliss ·, ·and fakes her rest with Go~F . ·
.. l (VIII, 672-75) .' . · I
. , I . . The verbal echoes of Akenside'~ "Rest at the fated. goal" in,.Words:_··· ·
' . . ..
worth's "takes her rest 'with. God,:"· possibly . reveai the .. sourc~ of ·' . .... . . .
this idea · in The Prelude. At · any rate, . 'the idea that ~ vital
relationship exists between man's aesth~tic faculty and ~is spirl-
''.
. . . . - . 15 tual well-being ·is a .P.asic pre~ise in The Pleasures of Imagination.
Akeriside argues that whatever highly imaginative ~ndividuais
perceive as beautiful inust also be .morally benefic~al, · because .;>f
the divine . affilia,tion of imagination. He claims ·thcrt: 'benevolent . . . . ' . '
· Providence, "To deck ·the honoured pat~s of just and go9,.d, / 'Has . . . - . ·.
· a:dded bright Imaginatio_n's rays" (I, 546-Lj7). Wo r dsworth also pu~s· , · .. . ~ . . ' . .
. c9mpl~te trust fn the faculty of imaginat-ion, arguing in The ., "' , ....
'Prelude that :f:.ll!aginative minds "are truly , from the ,De~ty" (XIV,
112), · Si~ce imagination ~s :m>:sterio;n1s1y drawn to the sublime . ~
aspects of n.ature, such phenome.na . are seen by· these poe ts as _!laving
a niystical si.gnifican:ce •. · · . ,. ,.,
· : . Another concept common to both Ak.en~ide and Word~worth is ' . \ . - :
that the na~ural sublime is' a~maid.f~station of the supreme creative
---imagination. · This view tends to .explain t .he great attraction which
' 15 ' f
:.See Poe tical Works~ . p ~ . 4·. ·.
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.... the sublime in natureh,olds· for the. poetic . imagination; Akens ide
argues that "brute unco~scious matter" .cann"Ot interes.i: · i~aginative ' , • I
individuals, 'be;cause its attraction is merely SUP..erficiai_· (I, .
. .
~ -In the works of ,creative· design, however, ·
: • · · •the ambitious mind :. There sees herseJ.f: by. these congenial forms Touched and awakened, with intenser act
; ·',
'she. bends each nerire, .and ~ditates, well 'pleas.ed·, · Her features in the mirror. · ·
(I, s33-37) _
For. Akenside,. then, sublime works, whethe_r in art or. in nature,
~ are like a mirror wherein imagination perceives its own reflection.
' ' ' '
. In . The · Prelude, .following the ,.account of his . experience ;on Mount . •.
Snowdon, Wordsworth' - assigns the same significance to · the sublime :7'1 . ,. . . • . . ~
i~ -~atur~:
....
; .
· · ni~ power, which all·. · Acknowledge when thus \ moved,· ·which nature thus
To -bodily' sen·se exhibits, is the ·exPress· Resemblance of that glorious faculty
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Iri the natu+al sublime the imaginative mind sees an .outward showing___..., · · /
_of divine . creativity . and thus, ":f..s given a sens'e . of its own 'pure
. . . ' 16 grandeur.'"
I
It may be seen, therefore; that Wordsworth's concept
of the poetic · im~_gination as an extension· of the divine cre'ativ~ I· < . . . (. • "
intellect is. an, idea wh,:i,ch.·is available in TilE! Pieasures of lmagi- . ' '
nation. . ... · • . • - ~ I •
I ' •
1-. . ! 16 . . . Q '
. Albert o •. Wl ecke·, Wor dswdrth and the Sublime (Los Angeles: . University of · California Pre~s-,_ 1973), ·P· 6'1.
,· . .
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Much of Wordsworth I 6 mystical theory of . nat.ure :i.n The Prelude .
' is: a~~icipat~d by Akeqsfde Is deistic CClllCept o'f nature : as revela-
· tion. The sublime for Akemside represents the highest form of ...
·beauty· because it shotNs evidence of creative intelligence. In the
· revised version of The Pleasures of Imagination Akenside expresses
f ' ' -a view which we may find~choed often in The Prelude. Tracing the ' ' ' ~ \'· '
. degrees ' of beauty from inanimate objects to int'elligent life,
\ ' Akenside concludes,
' I · , I
. . Thus hath.Beaut}' there ·Her most conspicuous praise to matter lent, .Where most cons'picuous 'thro'ugh the shadowy . veil
• Br,eaks forth the brigh'f expression of a 'mind: . By steps, directing our enraptured search To ·Blm--the first or' tid.nds, the chief, the sole. ,.
. (I, .553-SS), ·
Akenside's allusion to the Book of Revelation in these lines indi-
cates the significance that the mi.tural sublime holds for him •.
Attempting to create a deistic mythology in his poem, Akenside
presents a theory of nature which is a forerunn,er of Rblnantic ..
, . ' , I ,
'·'pature-worship." . The famil~a~ ·line~ in Wordsworth 1 s Prelude
describing his exper~ence on Mont B~~c may be seen to _echo this ..
. passage in Akenside' s ' poem regarding the mystical slgni.ficance of
the na·tural sublime. Word~Q!tft . sees the majestic natural features : I ·. . ,
' on Mont Blanc as "Characters ·of the great · Apocalypse, · I. The types '
and symbols of . Eternity" (VI, 4.53-4). : · By ' ·alluding to · the Christian· .... ,. ' . 1· .t I .
Apocalypse, Wo.rdswor.th is de~nstrating that the sublime in nature
is · for him, as :it is for Akenside, a revelation o.f the divine •
. '
Both Akenside and Wordsworth believe that imagination is the ,../
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·rac.ulty by which lnan attains this ·brief cont~ct 'wfth iU:;finity.
Wor.dsworth' ~- definitive image of the ~oetic im~gination, ma~fest , . '
in_ the I descriptio!} of his "vision': ~n Mount Snowdon, ,_may ,be seen ' , · .
..-: tb ·echo· Akenside' s account of the natural s·ublime as· divine · revel- . I '
ai:ion~ . Contemplating · '~he sublime spectacle on · MOunt"Snowdo.n, _
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~ • .it appeared to ' me the type ; Of, a .majestic intellect, its acts .
· , .·· · .. ... I And its ,posse,ssions," what it has and craves' '
. What in itself it is, an1i ,would become. ' There I beheld i::he emblem.of a mind. ·' · That feeds upon :i.nfirifty i -· ·.'
Ec;.hoes' of Akens ide's "Breaks t,orth the bright expressio~ a·f -·a· min'd"
in Wordswor~h' s "There I beheld the embiem ·of ·a Irlnd," indicates
· that . the 'natural sublime held· t~e same :significan~e f~r these · ·· ·, poets. The hum!in imagi~ation is . ee.en by W,ordsworth as. being ~in
the , ~mage of .~he _divine cre~tive intellect ,, ritself infinite and · '' .
. COnf?tantly in ~earch- of infinity. · 1As noted earlie.r,: Akenside· ·,'
"" ' argues that man's fascination with the sublime speCtacles -in ~ature
·,, '
is a resuLt . <tf his imagination's quest for the infini.te ~I, 150- .
-221)-o ·wordsworth' .s . theory i~ The P.relude regarding the interactforl
of the .poetic imagination _wi th the natura l sublime, may theref ore I
be seen to owe a considerable debt. to · the deistic doctrin~ ctf
. nature as represent~d in' ·Akenside Is Pleasures of Imagination~ • ' o I \ ~ " I • '
, . ' I While Wordsworth had acquired an appreciation for the purely · . • .. , . .( I . • . ~ · . ' '
: sensual _appe!3-l. of nature at an' early age, . he· could l~am a grea t . . ., . . . : I
deal from The Pieasures 'of Imagination r e garding the aesthetic_ and ' · • • •• • ' \ 1 • • •
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I ' .. : : : ·spirlttial value . o_~ .·the :naturai . sublime.· . Akenside' s theocy of .
a.estheti~s; ,backed by. ·the ~uthority of. :·contemp'orary and ancient .
philosophers alike, ·often proved to be .a .valua,ble to'~ehstone
" \ I '
68 .
.,
. . ,.. against which Wor~sworth could test his· own ·observati()ns ·and ideas ..
. Akens ide' s · hypothesis in The Pleasures of Imagination is tha.t ·those
/ I .natural endowments which contr.ol 11\Bn IS aesthetic j udgment• ais~ . . . 17
determine 'his · moral natur~. imaginative. i~dividuals gl~an not
only sen~ual experiences from the beauty in natur~, · but ·also spir
. · i tual · perfect~on. Wordswo'rth; examining his .· own'· development as · a
poet, comes · to · ~xactiy. ·the same .;:'onclusion in The Pr~lude . . ;It is . /
· not s~7~isingJ: the,-refo~.e·, th~t 'we ~y find many ide<_lB in ~, ..
Pleasu~es of · Imagination which anticipate Wordsw~rth i n The Prelude, . . . - . ~
I
since both poems have the same basic philosq~hy , regarding , the role
·of imagi~ation ';lri man's aest~etfc and'" spiritual development,
i
' . · B. · Goleridge
. I . ~ · . .
· ~. ' "\\li..ot> . . ,. ', .
ColeridgE7an scholars genera:lly · ~gree that during his forma-·
r • • •
tive years the. Romantic poet w~s influenced considerably by Aken-'- . .. . . .
' , • • . • • r ..
side.. While the critfcs ·have readily acknowledged Coler~dge' s
poetical debt to the earlier po.et, they have failed to see· any
significant connect;l6n betwe~n Akensi~e' s discourse on imagination
'and fancy arid Coleridge's celebrated theory·· regarding these mental ; - -
powers. coi'eridge· !Ra;. b'e indebted to The. Pleasures of I~agination, '
. ' 17P:. i ' ' 1 w k 4 · oet ca · or s, , p • . • ·;'.< • .
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however ,'.for much of the gr~undwork of his pwit ·theo~:'Y.; . :f?r in his
poem Akenside not only makes a clear disti~ti~n bet;een ' the .terms ' . 1 • • '
. ' ' 18 "im.ag:lnatio'n"· and "fancy_," . but als.o represents · imagination as
J . .... ; ' . ' t~e' ·esse.ntial agent i n human perception.
' . \ The theory of imagination
, .
and fancy embodied in T:he Pleasures of Imagination· m~y therefore
be· seen .to an ticip 11te Coler_idge' s · to a remarkable degree.. The. ·. . · ..
· ~ritics have generally been reluctant to . assign any 'such .import11nceJ
. ' t':J ' . . ' • •
to Akenstoe's views 'on imagination and fancy • . Norman Fruman, who , .,. • • . . t · , .
has irrefutably demonstrat~d the derivative ~at,ure . ·~f Coleridge ' .s
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' . speculati~e critici~m:, does n(Jt ,fndfl?ate that he recognizes The "t · -.' - -'~--· -. . ----·---l-_:,_ __ _
• I ' . • 1 Pleasures of Imagination as a possible source. of any of Col~ridge'.s :
. 19 ~deas regarding the distinctive roles of. imagination and fancy ;
. I
While it has been ,the - pra.~tice of the critics to ~ook to the , I ,
philosophers for . the o~i;in of many of Co~eri'aige' s _i9.ea~, The . ....
German
Plea- .
sures .of Imagination should not b'e di~mis.sed as insignifie~t in,
this regard. . Clear · evidence eXists' to indicate thai: Coleridge . ,. · /
co~s:i.dered. Akenside' s p,oem to b~ an interesting' and autlforitative ' (
work.~ .is ~bgical . to ~s;mme that 'othe . yomig Coleridge was . influ-1
~need greatly b¥ The , I
Pleasures of Imagination, . 's ince during the \
' ' , ,I \ '
·ta .. ., · · · · · . " . E.H. King demonstrates that -by the mid- eighteenth cen~ury
philosophers . and cri t;ics · we re using ~hese, ~erm~ to denote two _ 'entirely dif·fel;'en.t mental ' pro~esses ~ I t is therefore not s,urpr isi ng
. t<;~ .find : such a distinction in· The . Pleasures of Imagi nation. 'See· · 11James Beattie's .:L;iterary Essays· (1776, ,1783) and the , Evolution o n; ·
Romanticism;" Studies in Scottish Literature, XJ; (Aprn;-· 19.74'j, t 298- 09, ' · , I .
' ' ' ' _, ~
• . 19 . See : Coleri'dge,
Braziller, . 1971). · . , . . I ... •
the Damaged 'Archangel (New. York: George .c . t .
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.'· period· of ·1794-1797 Coleridge · inay be .seen t_6·· have ~een. fasci':l.ated I -
by almci'st every'j:hing th'a.t .. ·~ens:i:d~ had writ.t~n • . . '· !
.. 1;
. . ~ . . ., . , . · .. .. poetry and prose·_ may demonstrate his great admin1tion . for Akens ide '-s.·
I , . , , • ~
work. In September of 1794 ·Coleridge st;bmi tted to th~ MOrning
Chron1iie' .his ~'Elegy Imitated from Akensi~e '. s Thlrd Bl'ank V~rse J
In.scription:." The extent of Coleridge's borrowing: .in this poem is . ' . . ' . . ' 20 .
such that he ha~ been charged with merely .rhyming· Akenside. . In . . . . .. .. . ..
. ,. December ' of the same year Coteridge wr9te his ··"Religious ·~usings ., ~· . . . . ; '
a poem which o_wes a ·great deal to Akens ide '. a· Pr'easures of Imagi-,...-;r---.:___--"--- -'----,--.-1·---·-·- - - -- --t--:--- -
nation. · And '-in· Coleridge's Lectures on P61i tics and Religi on of
/
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1795, there is one, pas·s~ge after ariother. frornThe ' Pleasures'-of
Imagination · or .from Akenside's lyric yerse. Coleridge was greatly. . . ~
. ,· \
impressed it seems by' many, of. Akens ide's odes. · In a· letter ·. to
John Thelwall he prc:l.ises a poem as being ~'in the · best style of ' .-"' . .. . . 2i
· Akenside's best Odes." Coleri_dge'~ · oW.O "O_de to the Depar~~n-~ ·
Year," wr;lttet:l ·in ' 1796, is rematkably reminisc.erit of Akenside'·s I ,
~ae "To the E,arl of Huntingdon," a p~em ~hich Coleridg~ knew and
' 22 seemS to have admired consid~rably. · It may be seen, thirefoie,
20Ibid. ~ p. 39 ~ - .,
·.L
/
. ·' ' • I
21 . , Letters, I, 307.
/
\ 22
At any rate, Coleridg~.· prefixes ,·stanza v. 2 of' this Ode as a motto for. ·h~s Moral and .PQli'tical . Lecture. See The Collected Works of Samuel Taylor Coleri dge: Lectures 1795 on Politics and· Religion·, ed, 1. · Patton and P. Mann (London: Routledge, .. Kegan Paul , 1971), ' +, 3.. - .
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·that. Coler~dge .1fS:s greatly ·S:pprec:f.ative · C?~ .Akens~de 1 s Odes .and · ' I • •'
I I f Inscriptions. and .'that his · early• poetry was · influenced 'conside·r~bly . . ' ' . . . . ' ' : . ' . ' .. .
/ :
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-by · these .:works; · But it was The Pleasures. of imagination whith
Coiefldge- con.sidered .to be mos't .wo_rthy. of emtilation. In. factp
Ak.ensfde I 9 philOSOphical ' p~em may have , been , inS trume~ tal in .. ' - ·, ~ '
bringing abou.t what ; Cole.ridge considered to 'be a ·s{gnifica~t .-. . · · . . ' . ' . ' . . . . ~ . .
. ! .. t .urning point in his caree~.
For Coleridge The Pleasures of ImS:gin~tion. was ~ manifest.a~ '
tion of the. su~,cessful treatment of/~ philosop_hie~l s~bj~ct ' pCieti~ _. .
cally. Akenside saw no. reason why philosophy. should .pot. be united' · . ' ' . . -
i h• II . h 1 ·k. f ' . . f. " 23 d h . 1 · d w t • t e wor s '! : imaginat: on, an ·on -t .is point . Co eri ge
agreed. In a . letter to Th~lwall;Coleridge demonstrates this
.': . . p~~ticular ·affinity with Akenside:
.,
But wh)7 so . violent against metaphysics in po~try? Is .not Akenside 1 s a metaphysical poem? · Perhaps, you do not: like -Akens ide--well--but I ao-:... & so do :a· g'reat many ·others. 24
Here. Co;Lerldge is defend~ng his own ."Reiigious ~usings," a poem .. / ! , -
whi~h may be· seen as an attempt to imitate Aktioside 1 s ">style in The': • ' • I ' • ' ' • --
Pleasures of Imagination. Much of the subjec't · inatter· in "Religious·. : 1
. Musings" coincides with central theme~ J..o The Pleasures of Imag~-. . ' . . . ···.·
nation. Frequent verbal echoes of Akensi.de· may also be found .. ·
throug~o~t nReligious Musings" to indicate Cole.ridge 1 s debt to the
; · . .earlier work.
/.
-.. 23see ·Poeticaf- Wo~kei,' P·· )1 :(n. to 1. .31) •·
24 . . . ·: Letters• I; 215 •
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. . cation ' ~£ his . intentio~ at ·th;i.s time· '0 follow Akens ide 1 s : exam~ lei
. . : • . a poet ;.h'\eomhined phi~oso~~y witL po/ try ~ 25 Iri his """ligious
Musings" co·leridge attempts to come, to g~~ps w~th the question of
·.:· "Why: there· is misery in ~ worlc!.-'so. fair' (1. 259)_. .J'·rn order · to . . I ' ,
' jUStify the place Of. eVil ' in man IS Coleridge draws extensively · . . .. . ., .. on .Akensid.e's treatment ·of ·the srune s bj~ct. Wh~n the Sage of.
•• · '" • ' , '1
'1, ' . • \ ' ' . ' . •
Ake~side 1 ~· · aile gory mou.rns: man,' s lot as "The ' universaf .~ensitive
of pain" (II ,''"218) ~ th~ ~ Gen iu.' o~ rumsU kind" fe~ns tra tes ths t
it is by divine decree that man .is/'by Nature formed for al~ msn'";
kind" (II, ~62). Coleridge echoes · this id,ea in Akens ide when he . \ . .
states th~t, .. . ' ~ .
Our noontide 'Majesty, Parts and .pro.portions .This fraternises man, ·our charities and bea
. 'Tis ~he . sublime~ of"·~~, know OUt:~'el Ves
.f one wondrous whole!· this constitutes · ings.
' . (11. 127-:-31)
. ...
.. 0' .In his entire treatment of th place of evil in the wo~ld ccileri4ge
may_ ~e ' se~n to .adopt Akensid~' s i~ea~ 'and . pres_ent . . them as axiomatic I
··evidence. in ltfs· own argument. A9.other idea· in '-'Religious/ Musings" : • • ·*.\
whi~h may be s~en· to ?rigi~ate . . . .. ' \ . '
with . The Pleasures of Imagination · .•
is the view that through his :ccimmuniqn w:i.tp' 'nature man· may conve rse
\
.r . -~5~e~ . rhe· Complet~ Poetical Works of. saui~el Taylor Coleridge~ ed. · .E.H. Coleridge (Oxford·: The · Clarendon Press, '1912), I, 108 •.
· (All .subsequent · ref~rEmces to Coleddge' s .poeti:r'crl-"e from· this · : ed1.tion.) ' "' " ·.
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·. ~ith' .God. ·. C<?le~idge a:sser,ts·. th~t . ~o · ~ov.~ 'God' is to · ·~ppreda~~ all
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u . . 9f creation. · . Co~ver.fsely, 'the man 1who · t~uly appreci.ates · natu.~e
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· ,;! ·· From himself he fli~s, Stands in the sun, and wi~h no partial ga~e .. Views ·all · creation; and he ·lovep it all,. .And' blesses i .t, and 'calls it. very good! · · Th~s is i~deed to dwei;L w
1fth/ the .most High! ·
· .. · . ,, (lL .110-14) ·
•',
Ma:ri.y passages like . the pre~eding on~, . . r~mar~abl~ remini·saent, of . .
· Akenside'~ style· in 'I'he .Pleasures of .Im~gination, may .oe' .found · .
i:hroug~out .~oler,idge; s poE7!• . Coleridge'~·. 11Religiou.s ·.Musings,,·, ·
.·
therefore, attests to· the considerable 'respect :which he bad .. for · •· • . · t . ' ' .
: ;Akenside' 9 · "me~aphysical" poem. . r • . • .
I • , . . Like Wordswo.rtp, .Coleridge benefited g:reatly fr~m Ake~~ide' s
views' on ~ral philosoph~; but he is' probably ev~n more indebted . . . ·. . ' . . .. ' . ' to', the ea'rlier poet ··s the'C?,ry cif imagination an"d .fancy • . .Many .ideas :
- r~garding the distinctive roles of imagi~aticin ci.nd. fancy usually
considered: to be ·o;riginal .~mantic concepts, · a~~ · alre~dy di:sc;em- '
·~ble in.The Pleasures-of Imagination. While Akenside does riot.:
. actually see iinaginafion arid·_ fancy as ·. two different po-w:ers, he . • • • ,J
· c~rtcrlnly makes· a. clear distinction between ~hem in his po~m •• ~ Like . . . '·
0
' . . i \
most eight~entb'.:.century aesthe'tician~ Akenside uses .:'~agin~t;.ion~' · .
·•
to represent the'•·sublime aspect of . t:he . poetic power' and ':'fancr'~ ' o. . ' 0 l . : . . • • .
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to denote its more . ca~ricious side •• Arguing that ~magination is .
. . · ~ysteriously re.ceptive of:, ce~tain o~ders . of ~bject~ . ~~ the natural
enviromat €-I, 1-~~·1:5·},-~ensid~ assert-~ th'at : the ·external 'stiui- .· · ' ' ' ' • ' I . , '' ~· , , ' .
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:. Thrills through pnaginatio 's tender fr'ame; · Frpm nerve to. nerve;· all n. ed and aii ve . . /
. Th_ey catch . the spreading r ' y's ;' till now the.f'so·ut .
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At length discloses ·every · tuneful sprin·g • · · To that hlinnoniou~ moveme t · from without, · ~
1 . . · Responsive, 'Then. the ine ressive strain-. ·:--:-·---\Diffuses its enchantment· F~ncy dre'alllS -g
.. Of sacred fountains and lysian groves, And . vales, :of bliss.
• · · (I, 119-27) . ..,
It may
. ·:,· ..
be seen ·here · that" Ake~side de'!-iberately. emplo'y.s the term I
"imaginati~n" to represent that .~o~er. whi~·h· is primarily involved ·., ·
: ·in the' act of . p~rception. · '!Fancy," . on_ the -~ther · hand~ denotes ·_at} . ' . . . . . ,. . •'
entity whos'e functi"on :it is ·to enh_ance the perceived image with ' .
--random associations. - Thro~ghout Akenside' s poem imagination is· .. io
always 'regarded as that 1power which ~riab~e~ ~n to detec~ the . ·• . 1. . . . ' ' ' .
~beautiful atid the sublime in natul['e, In seeing imagination as ·the . >
·. - ~
f,aculty responSible_ 'for_ the way ~n ·which man perceives his world, .
Akens.ide anticipates 'Coleridge in his well.:..known 'definition. The· ~ ., . . ' ' . ' " - ~ . . . .
·primary imaginat~on, Coleridge decl~res, is . "the· living I
power anc:f.!
prime Agent of .~u · h~ao:- Perception~_"26 . ·For . Coleridge, therefore,_
the ~rimary . imagination is; like ·Akenside' a·· "finer organs" (I, . ' ~ .
II
109-15), -the link between the ··.exterpl}l stimuli. and the perce~_ved '. • .' ~ • f :-: '"': • • ~
image. rilll~, this part of · Cole~idge's defi~ition ·is Clearly anti-• I • • • ~ , . ~ . •
' (I ·. • • . . .a ' . .i, . ·.. . . :· . :
· .cipated by •Akenside in The ·Pleasures of Imagination. II \ • I
" ' The :Romantic poets s~·1human per~eptiq'n ·as an <!.ct}ve pro~ess
... . . i
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·, in ·wi,ich the imagination playe~ ·a creative ·role. 1 This\ idea is _. · · . • . • • .. . . . . • •. :-' . . · . . •. ·' . •. . .. ' p
.inherent in Co~eridge~ s ae~in!_.J;ion, ~hen he d~_clar~s t~~-t . ~~~{primary_
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ffnite mind ~f the -eternal· act · . . . '
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; '
imaginayio~ . as seen by the Romantic poets is c~ntinuo~sly . striving .... ·. . ,.. . .. \ . ' .· " ' '
. to represent· the common universe in su-ch a -way that we see it as
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t~e 'P,.erceived: im~g~,:f,s usually seen as · the ·essential -difference ' ' : ; , I ' ' 'f ' ' ' '
bet~e£m the Rriman:tic ~oncept of ·this faculty of. mind and t~e ' ~ : f ' • ' ' • I ' • ' ' •
'eig~teenth~cen~~rY~ vi.ew of : the pow~r. The idea •that imagination . '/ '.: ~:. _
colours, ·.~d e:,n. rec~ates w~a.~ -;he sen~es perc~ive, ~how~'fer, is
an important premise ·of ,Akenside~s. argument ·concern'ing -the . ftinction .. - . . ' b
; • c.. : ., ' • .. t!• ' . "'
of. imagination. It is .on the ba~is of this very idea that Akenside • • J •• .. •• • •
' I '
. bel:l,..ev:es. the imagi~ative faculty to have co~let~ control ovez:. our
_ mo~al deyelopment~ ' . . . , .~ .
As.noted earlier, Akenside is headed toward· -, . . . I
' the concept _of, creative pe-rception when he declares . that the mind / . . \ . . ' " . ' . . -- .. :
of mai1 is ' the real source··of' the beautiful and subiime as percei,;~·d • '<I • ' • \ • • , ' /' . • • ~ f • • •
·in ~ature (I, 481-~3) •· · Col~ridge · had undou~ted~y encou?~ered such . . . t . 0 . . . ~
ideas in 'The' Pleastires ' of Imagination earl~ _in his ca,reer; and' ' . . . . .··_· \ ' . '
while it was much l~tex;_ ~.at he· -formulated his .mature· the~cy o~
\ ' - ' : .. imagination and fancy, his debt to Akens ide is ·strongly ·implicated.
. .. I ·.: Coleridge ~.aY \~~:be in~~bt:e-d · to Ak~nside f~r th~ ·· co~~-e~t 1 • ·'I • • " , 1,
. '
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' o·f the . "P~i""'ry;:wl \'.•••~•.•rY" r;ii. •. s · ~~ im~gi~tiOn~ .·· I~ -.thci /
11De.s~gp" : to his po'em. Ake~~ide r~efe~s to th.e ·primacy and ~ secondary . .. : . ·: '{1Ji.\ ' •. · . : . . /. '• . . . . ..
2;· ' _:_ .. ' . \~ · \ . ' .. ..// / .. . ' Biographia Lite-raria, ·I, 202.. . ·
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.· 2~ J~hn Spenc~~- llii~, ed. , ·, I~g'inati~~ .in · ccneri~Jge cTotowa', \ . N.J.;,. Ro\· · a.nd LfttlefiFld, 19.78) ,-. p . .- 2~ · . '··
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pleasures _of i~agi~tion are 'those which arise. as ·a -direct result
. , .. , ' ' - ~
·of ' our perception of the beauty which ·exists in riature.J The\ sec~m:.. ·.
. - ~ary _ pleasu~es, hoWeve~, \;e'pl~en~ ~~; deli~ht 'from th~ ~mitatc-ve ' ; - ..
;: ' ·.,
-·
.,
·· aits. ~9 . It .my be. ••~•, : ~en, that Ake~sidi' s . ~~1:1' plea.suie:
'· - coin6ide .with. Coler£tge 1 s . explanat~o~ of -the role of the primary " . • . . • • ,l ~ .. ·_ ... .
imagination. · . ~enside, like .Coleridge, s~~s imagina.tion 1 s ro,le · i'n. · • .1, •'
the ~ cre~tive art's . ~8 - ~ecohdary to i _ts function -i~ ' h~uian per~ep~fon. _ '· ' ·,, ~ . . ' . ·-
Eurthermqre ,; when Ake~sfde' ~;ames _ {~":Vat -the second~ry. ple~sures .'· ' , .· . \ .. . :
·. of imagination, he describes a 'process which . is·- almost i~entical
with C'oleri.dge1·~ · -conc~pt of the roie of .the secondary imagination.: . . - . . . .
. . . . . ., . . . ,·:· .. .· - . . Alth1~mg~ Akenside's theory o' the ppetic imagi~l!-tiori is
' ,-/ I • '" ·
·usualiy dismissed· as1 being- in the traditipn of the as~o.ciatibnists,. -, ..
-.he does make a significant break with their · views. - lJnll ke the . ~ . ~: . . . • ' • •, , ' \ ' • ' ' , . ' ' ' ' I . • . ~I ~ • I .
associationists, Akenside -sees imagination as being indepenq~nt .. of
ci~mo_ry, 30. > This idea is
the tepus. i~imagination"
th~ ·~rit~l . flic~lties in
inlier~nt_. in AA/ nside 1_s_ dis:in.~tion between
and "fan~y," According to the· . theory 9'~ . ~~; ·
~ ' ' . . • ;":.l. ~
The Pleasures ·of Imagination, fancy, · · t~e ' \ "' : ~ I ,.
more-'-ftivolous side of the powe.r, is ·a .form of memory.· I t ia.tbe.
·role of fa?cy; with·the lrld ~f ""the.' busy p9wer. !- Qf - ~mocy," ciu, ,I'[ ' - • • '. . ' ' .
! l '
348-9)' t~ 1-r~~ali th~ images which . ~re presented "Before the cJJrious ~ \~ .
aim· of inimic .. aft'i (III, '353-4). It i f:i <?.nly after.'fancy· has ·
29P--_._ · 1 a1. w· k 3. --·- oet c · or s ·, P• ~ .. . · .. .
·.· 3o .. • · ' .. - . · -- ~~e Martin Kallich, "The Association of I deas and 'Akens ide I 8
'-Pleasures . of Imagi nation, 1 " ·Modern L'artg~uige Notes ,'_ .LX~ I . (~ch·,' · i947)', 167. . . ' . . . I'
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~ . . ., retrieved .all of the possible associations of. ari. i:dea that "the ' .
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pla~tic powers / , Labour for action'.' (III, 381-2) • . The act~al
'·poetic iniagi~ation· recreates original im11ges ~sing the my~iad ~f
a~sociB:ti~ns' presented for its use by the .fancy. That po~er whic.h : .
.he denotes by the term ·"imagination" is. viewed by.Akenside ' as ' an . ' . . ' . /
extens,ion of the. infinite creative energy. This- may be seen in. '{}
'his · con!parison of· ttie poet;'· s art to· the act of Creation:
as from Chaos old the jarring seeds Of ~Nature ', at the voice .divine, repaired
I ' Each .to its place, · t'ill rosy ~earth unveiled. Her fra~rant bos.om·, and th~ joyful sun Sprung · up the blue serene,. by swift. degrees Thus disen.tanged~ his.::entire. design · .
·. Emerges. \. (III, 39~-4os) 'i
\Thus the poet transforms random image~ into unified ~d original
' ' ! '
I '
. r' ,
works 'of art. .Imaginat,ion 1-S abilit'y to create by recreating,
explains for Ak~nside why poetic: works "Beyond their proper powers • ..
~tt~act the s~ul" (III,r 418): It is true, therefore, that .Akenside lj
"cpmb:Lnes the corilpouncling 'theory with · the creating ~he:ory. . .. 31 . . . . For while this 'fac~lty utilizes the associations of an idea which-
.are .recalled by fancy, it · is seen by Akens ide as a truly creative
' '
. power.
fancy"
Consider, ~or example, ~si:de' : : ac,~ount .of t;he "chi(:d of
duri~g the · '\'oet;lc act! ·., · /
: . .. , .. !
. With fix~,!! gaze He marks the 't;ising phanJ:oms; now comp~es . Their ' different forms; now blends them, noW'd:l:Yi4es, ·Enlarges arid extenuates by turns; · ·. ""-
• • ' .t;
Oppo~es, ranges in fantastic bands, ~d infinitely yaries •
I ;_: (III, . 391-95)
31 . Aldridge, p~ }80. . ....
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The. process represented I)y Akens ide's verbs in the . preceding
passage may be · seen :as one of modification and ·recreation. In·
fact, the creati~e process as described in The' Pleasure'~. of Imagj
nation blars a remarkable resemblance 'to Coleridge 1 s account 'of
" the s'econdary imagination in action.
. , . .
The secondary imagination,
' ' '
according to Coleridge, "d~sso.lves, diffJ;lSes, dissipate·~·· in order . \ :
' .,, . ' . . ,,32 ' . to re-create.,. • , • Thus,- Coleridge's secondar;r imagination
~unttions .basically . tne same as. Akenside 1 s "pl~stic11 p·ow~r. 1t
may be seen, therefore, t,liat although Akens ide is vague in hi!:!, \
' . ' theory about where the::, law!? of ass<;»ciation leave off and the ere~:-
. ' / '
tive imagination take~ over; his argument is a signific.ant'· a.dv~nce
ment in~ the eighteenth century of the cr~ative theory of imagi~a-,.
: tiori. . Fur~he~ore, it may be concluded that Coleridge undoubtedly
benefi_r:;ed. from s~ch ideas in Th~ Pleasur~s of Imagination.
Many i~eas whi'ch are. essent.ial principles of Coleridge's
celebrated theory of imagination and fancy may b,e found scattered
.;-' .t£lroughout The Pleasures of Imagination. Consiqering Coleridge 1 s
great interest in the subject ' matter and styU~ of. Akenside I 8 poem~ 4!SJ : ' - ' . . ·. :
it is almost ·certain that he· was familiar wi~h the entire theory , . I • •
of imagination and f~cy which is elaborated in The Pleasures ·of
-Imagination. ·The evidence strongly. implies that..--Col~r'idge may have
ev~lved nnich of h.i~ o~ ·the~ry · of imagi~ticin ·~nd fancy f .rom Aken-. : . . - ' .
sid~' s .poem. ·This vi#.i. is i~.deed. c~~sis.tent .With c~rta~n critical
.c) { .
32 ' . / ' . . . Biosra;Ehia Literaria, ·r, 202.
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· works . which have ~ttempted · to demonstrate that Coleridge deduced I
I
'much of his, speculativ~ critiCism fr?m tlie writings .of others.,
/ ·.f
It .·
is .certainly true that as . a young man· Coleridge considered Akenside 1
•
~o be a poe·t ·and philosopher of· the highest order. It · seems a safe .
_assumption, . therefore; that Coleridge 1 s early interest in t he
psychology of the mental faculties was' to some extent kindled ·by t..,. .. , :
· his ~e-ading of Akensfde 1 s poem; Indee4, : ~ol~ridge 1.s m3ture theory·
· concernfng . the nature and function ~f i~ag~nat~o~ an~ f~ncy owes
mcire . to Akens ide Is . Pleasures of Imagination j:h~n tradi t:fonai :; .
· .. • C9leridgean criticism has recognized.
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CONCLUSION
I
Akenside ·is usually. regarded as a forer
. ,
, , . I ,
Romanticism .
mainly by · virtue; of ce'rtain passages in jlis Pl IJj!a ination ~ ' · . . . ~~~~~~~~~~~~ . .
which ~nticipate parts of the theories of the· great · Romantic poets. . . . ' -. , . . I
While 'this kind of an ·asse.ssnient of . Akens ide 1 s: place · in . the . history I ' I ' I·. . . . . ' ' ' ' ' ' '
of Englfsh poet:zy has given hi~ ·a. ce~t~in oount 'of rec~gni~ion ... in· . .• i . . our o'wn ti1J!e, it· does. not give a complete picture .of his• role as. a
. ....... .
precursor of Romanticism•. Disregarding the full ' significance of
..---'·· "Akenside :t~ too ab~i:ract • . . · . . ~n plac~ . of images,
. . . . . . . . . . . ·1 · the. reader with dis.sertations." I!l its cal,;L for .the
-~ . ' .
he p~~t:ltS
return 0~ .
i~ginatiot:t .and feeling to Englis~ poetry'·· however, The. Pleasures
' .
· of I~~gination ·~eP,resents an important eight~enth-century , exercise ,
.. . 2 . ' in .poetics. . In •vi7w of the -theory of ~esthet~cs elaborated in
The .. Pleasures of Imagination, . Akens:i.de I 8 lyri.c verse. ~y be seen ' . ' . . t . .
·-~ an attempt to ~rite .the :kind. of poe~ .called for. in his · maj-or • • ·!). .
poem. . Although Akensid~1 B extensive handling·. of the oae. form early . . . . .. . . . (
in . the . century has . his t.oric~l ·as wen- as literary signific~nce,
1 Beers, p. 140.
.. · , I
, .· .
·.
. . 2More recent critic8.l works on The Pleasures of.' I~gina'tion
tend to consider the poem' from the point of view of its aestheti~s · and poe,ti~s~ See John Fr(Ul~i"S Norton, ~ 'iAkensid~'s 'The Pleasures . · · of Imagination' : ~ Exe-r~~~e. in · Po~t~_cs," . Eighteertth , Centu'ry ·.' ..•
.· ....
. .. Stuc)ies, +II '(1970) '· 366-:-8~. . ~· · . · • · '
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hi.s .'lyFic ·poet:Jry is ' almost totally ignored i1;1 this". regard.
81:.
In many :~ ·
. ' / ,' ~ ·. . ; '
. .o.f his odes·, even while employing a clas~ic.al poetic· form, . .Akenside
. . \.· . betrays nis longing to break \~ay from 'certain literacy conventions --·
- ~ . . of his. age; · Ake~side is therefore a significant ~ite'rary · fig~re
'· ~n the early re,action ag'ainst the mo~e restricting_. asiiec;::ts· ·of th·e·
ne~-Glassical poetic doctrine~ , The jl;~eat ·influemce"whi~~enside
exerted. on such Romantic poets .as Wo.rdsworth and Coleridge is alsQ:. . ~
·an indication of. the . innovative nature of .his work. ' I
All t ·he ·
-~-:,;ide~ce indi~ates that these poets · regarded Akensid~.' s Pleasures .
. ! . . . ' . . . ' •
of'. Imagination as a systematic '<Uid a).lthoritative philosophical ' . .
exercise. There is c~rtafnly ample evidence to substantiat~ the · I I' . . .. •. ,
~- . . . ~·claim that Wordsworth and ;colnl:dge· owe considerably more to Aki:m-
.side's ·poem than most critics have acknowledged, . . . 1,· · · . J i . ·· ,, .: .
Despit~ the· eclectic nature of its argumimt, The Pleasures . ·. . . .. . . . '
of Imagination is~a systemati~philosoph~cal poem with singleness ' . . ,. .
of purpose. In the ·.".Design" to his ·poem ·Akens ide declares· that ~
·'his intention ;l..s , ·. .. ·
. I •
to enlarge and- harmonize the imaginat;ion, and by that . ' ' means_ :l:~se\\sib~Y. dispose the -minds ·of. men .to a . si~lar .-taste and""lfabit of thinking in religion,_ morals, -~l):d civil life. 1Tis, on ~his account that [the author] fs .. so careful 'to -point 'out the b~nevol'ent inten-tion7of. . the·'-Author -of Natur'e ·in every 'principle· of the human
. . . . constitudon. • •• 3. "· :. . . . . '- . . . . . .··. ·This does ~at ~mr t'tat AkEmside
' : .. . . /
l.s ~oncerned with arriving at a
. ' . ' :~ttlnqard for ·literary taste; rather, his aim is :to demon·strate that . '
.''. 1' .
! 3 I • • · • •• • •
l?oetical .Works, p. · 4. . ·.
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those natural mental' po~ers 'which' enable man to differentiate ., - · · \. - .
between the beautiful and the grotesque, also guide h_im in his
ethical and moral decis.ions. As R. Marsh asserts, "Akens ide cannot .
be •content to be governed· by literai dif&.tinctions ,· such"' as those
: 1c,ommonly made b~tweem· 'aes~hetics' ·• • ; and 'morals' •• · • • 114 ·. I .J1__,_!_·
... The Pleasures of Imagination .Akenside argues that man is .n4turally·
enthusiastic ·.by the design of a wise and .b.enevolent providence;, . ~ ' . '
for his love of beautyultimately serves to foster man's' moral· . •• J ' • •
dev~lopment. In this 'regard ·.'Akens~d~ gives a whole new resp'ec't-: , I ·. . . ,
ability .to imagination 'When• he claims that it is not only the , . . ··.
supreme aesthetic. fac~ty but also the power· ;which actually ·shapes
. man's moral judsment. ln his representation . of i~a~ination as I . '• · . "'·'
being mysteriously conversan;.idth truth, .Akedside may be. seen to
·anticipa~e nineteenth-cen~ucy · .Ro~ant:ic ·~iews of ~e · facul~y • . Such •. • . • , . . o -1\
' . ideas in ·The Pleasures of Imagination would have · been regarded as
hereticar'.by ·. strict adherents of the neo-Classicar' literarY.:·qqc-• r I • ' ' ,
·t~ine • . But for the. handful of·· poets at this time 'who aimed ,for
m~re than respectability in their poetry·, Ak.enside ' ·s · poem provided
a philosophical basis .fo.r their poeti~ cr~ed. i ·'1! , : .
Regarded .. in this ·, ~r' .. .
, ~ r , , ' .
way_, · The Pleasures of Imagination becomes a highly significant : ... !
e~ercise .in poetics. It also tends to e~iain the •great appeal ..
' . , .. , ·. ~hich Akensid~' s . poerit held for Wordsworth and. Col'e·ri~ge.
·. \ L ' .'
·' , I 4 . .· . Robert Marsh, · Four · Di'alectical Theories of Poetry: M. ASpect'
ot'- EnSlish Neoclassical Criticism (Chicago: University of Chicago . - Px:ess~ 1965), p. 50. ..· . ,
. ) . . . . . .. : . . "
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·.As a lyrist Akenside f~i'lls s~t ·of the ·kind of ·poetry called
' '
. for by h:i,s Pleasures of Imagination; however, his contribution to ·.
the . d~velopment of En_glish lyric verse· is significant. \ I
It is ·easy
. to see why 'Akenside<S, .odes have been r~garded by some crii:L~s · as ' I .
unsatisfactory ex - ples of lyric poetry. When his odes/ are compared
with·. }h~se of ats, for - ex~le, · Akenside'~ .. ~re s~en ,fs cold,
mens. In ~i:-der to - m~ke . a valid assessnlent of Aken-·
an ei~hteenth_ ~ent)ry lyrist ~ 1Le· niust ~ry- to ·
se~-- his t~~i~'"proper context _asf lyric poe~s in a~when this ' ki ' d of'p,9etry was held ·in low estimation~ ~enside' s lyric '
' ' ·' ' u ' ;
verse, especially his. 'short,, intip{ate odes', represents hi~ urge. to ' . ' . '. '
' ,, ~ . . . ' .
the 11fair poetic .' region'.' . ~f his ·own '¢nd, · In ' thei~ subjec-• ' I) ( •.
. I . ' .. • . ,
many_ of Akensiqe ' ·s odes a're noteworthy specimens . ! .
· lyric poetry_, in ·~he ~ge ~f -Reaso~. · ·The per~ori'al note in th~ .... '" . . '
odes re~lects those conce-rns which affected Ak~n~ide as 'a man, but 0 • •
' ' more ' importantly. it is symbolic of the struggie_ which 'all lyr!lc
, · poets experienced at this time. ' ThE? . inabilitY to find renewed
'I lyriC inspiration iS 8 theme Which recurS in many Of 'Akens ide IS
. 0 • , •
odes. , 'And his treatment of many #ffererit themes reflects his . ' ' .
I •
. at'riving ·tO attain unencumbered lyri:~ expression. This concern
may especially be . s~en in an od~ like "To . the -Muse," in which"·. ' ..
·Akeriside expresses. his wish to experi.ence Miltonic>v;t_s;ton. If
. I . . '(; , . . '• .
. Akens ide·'· s odes ,are often seeh as , cold, .studious· specimens of. that . . .
r ' • '
...
_.-.-f~rin, ·_ i~ i~ 110t bec~u~~ his ~u~j_~cts; d~d n<?t affe~~ hi~ d~eplJ: •. :·
Akefl~ide IS : difficui'ty With ' t,he O~e is 8' S~mptom Of the ins~irational , r, ,· , . . : ,·
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. difficulties e~erienced by . all writers in the perio~ who · aspired /
to ·a truly l~~ical poetic s 'tyle . . Nevertheless, _ i~ his use o~ the·
lesse'r ode as an instrument for the t"reatment .of ,his. own personal . . . . ,•' I : ~
·anxieties. a'ndpoetic diff~culties, Ak.epside m!'lybe seen .to have . • • J . ·'
• I
e?terted some influence on his cont~mp-orarie's, . :In· fact, echoes of
Akenside 1 s lyric verse in the poetry of Wordsworth, Coleridge, . . . -;
Shelley, · and especially Keats, bespeak his sign.ific}-1ce as . an
eight~_enth-century· lyrist. ..-· ·: :: Whi.le Wordsworth and _ Coleridge recognized . Ak.enside as .a lyric
- poet of .some impo.rtance, it .was the didactic quality in his work • . • . • ' ' . • J
·' that they regarded· as-most valuable • .' For while the sensual· appeal ' . -
. ·OfJ Akens ide 1 S poetry may leave much tO be desired 0 hE;! COUld teach . ~
the ·young Romantic: poets a gre~t deal . concernir(g the relationship . /
between· beauty and truth. Throughout· Akens ide 1 s Pleasures 2_! ·
Imagination may be found many ideas which are usually considered
· to be basic tenets of the Romantic philosophy. · Astute literacy . . " ~ . ' . . .· /
theorists like Wordsworth .and Coleridge w~re quick to recognize
the many . impl_ications of Aken'side' s theory of aesthetics, 'Aken-. .
. side' 6 deistic .c~ncept ,6f the natural sublime as ' an extension of
the divine creative p.ower may be seen .as an i mportant forerunne,:; L'
of . Wordsworth's · theory ~egarding the mystical · s.ignifical'\c~ of
majestic natur~ specta.cles. And the many "echoes of Akenside to ;::
be found _throughout The Prelude and The Excursion s~ggest "that
Wordsworth'_~· debt to the earlier poet is cpnsiderable, · Akenside's , \ •f , I· - • • • • 1 , • ' • I • '
0 • ' • , ,
~peculation o~ imagination and.··fancy is anothe.r 'aspect of hi~1 poem ·.·
..
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- --- --- -1: . . wh~ch had a significant influenc'e on the Romantic poets' theories.
Akenside's idea that imagination is the :faculty by which mari
perceived the divine in nature is 'one which .both Wordsworth ap.d
d ..
· Coleridge adopted in their poetry. Furthermore, Akens ide's account
/
of the primary and secondary pleasu~es of imagination ·anticipates · '· . .
Coleridge Is · "primary'" and "secondary"' role's of th~ imagiil,at'ive . - · • • . ' . • l .
. : . . ~·1 . • . . . po7ir. · Coleridge'·s well-k~'own tl>.e~ry of imagina:tion and ·far).'cy, · - - ,.
therefore, has a close forerunner in an eighteenth-century poem • .
· Many ideas which are basic to 'the very philosophy underlying . the
poetry of Wordsworth and Coleridge may 'be found :in The . Pleasures
of Imagination. For this reason, Akens ide's poe:m can · reveal a . · I
·' great deal about the eighteenth-century ·origins . 0~ many. essential ·
principles· bf · Romant}'Cism. · Indeed, the hopes for English poetry . . . ~
manifest in The Pleasures C:,f Imagination were: '?¥Y, to be f ully . r
iJ realized in. the wo~k of the great Romantic poets:
••
•i
It · has often been observed that a~ a poet who ~ailed for·· the / : # . -..;.ol
return of' im~gination to English 'poetry, · Akens ide's own verse is
disappointing.·•. There h much truth in this, as:sessment ·of his
poetry; 'and y~t, his Pleasures of Imagin.at i on, in the ~opiousness ~ ·
of its imag~ry. is .evidence of the f;cuodityof Akenside'si'!llagi
nation. Akenside _certainly seems. :to . have 'been capable of wdting
I •
· the .· kind of poetry that the· theory in his Pleasures· of Imagin~tion
pr+scrib.es, ~u.~\~e chose to · keep his ' ~ancy in check. This point · ~ o ~~ I '
is ).'loted by .· ~o~ge ~ain~sbury when he ~t:~t~~ that "it is . a question .,
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.whether·· Akens ide' wants much . to have 'tur:ned his . statue into life.n5 : . r
The poetic task which Ake.nside se.t for iim~elf may help' to expl!i~h ·
the· obyious discreRancy between his ,Poetic ~heory and practice; . J • v ·· ~~ . . :·· .
· Th·is concern is ·h~nted at many times t.hrough01~t 'Aki:mside's poetry,
and· .quite explicitly r11~tated i'!l his blank verse ."Insc~iption IX." . . 1, I ~---~-~--
Expressing the 'oelief that he_ had been sele.cted for a noble poetic
endeav~n.ir ,._ Akens ide :"dec~ares:
.. :
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Me tliough . in .life,· s. s~questered. 'vale The · Almighty Sire ordained to dwell,
. '· '.' Remote· from glory IS toilsome' Ways t •
An,d' the·. ·great ,scenes of public praise; Yet .... let me still with grateful pride · Rememb.er how my infant frame
·x · He tempered ·.with pr~phetic /flame, · • And early mu~i<; to my tongue supplied. ·
" ()
. 'Twas then ~y ~uture fate be weighed, . . ·' And,- this be thy concern, he 'said, ,
At o'nce ·with Passion1skeen alarms, ·/. And Beauty's .pleasurab~e · charms, . · · · Andsacred Truth's eternal light,
· ·. To move the. various mind . of Man; .' . T~ll, under one unb1emished plan, / · Hi·s' Reason, Fancy, .and his Heart · unit~ •
. ...
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These lines reflectr Akens ide 1 s be~ief that man is not a pu~e1y /. · ·
r ·ational · being; but . that he. also has an: emotional side to · his f) . . . .
· n~ture. For ' Akens ide, . as already noted. man Is moral judgment and • . • . . ' • . . I . • . .
his ._a~thetic taste a~e really insep~rable, since both 0~ these ~ 0
p~ope_l.!sitiel:) are shaped .and controlled by_the same Go·d..:gi~en power, . . . /'' '"'-..... ./ .
imag:lnation. ' Akens ide's concern throughout his ~oetry .. . the,refore •.
is to reccn~cile h:1s own deistic belief's : with. the powe rful ' influ- ·.
I : .
' · . · 5ee~~g~ S~i~tsbucy ~ · A · Short History of · English ·Literature'.:
(London: . Macmillan·:,.and CoinPany, 1925) , p • . 5 7.9. . ..
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·-. d.octrin~ · of hi.s · age: Akensid~!.s po:et-cy frequently· b_etrays ·.a · ·· ·- .-_// · ... . .c ' ' '6 ' / .
-struggle for - supr~macy . between-these· two - ~·tr~ng iJ.~flu~nces ~o~ ;·liis . . , . ) . . . . . ~ . . . . ~~ · __ .: . • '\'' ' . . . ..
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. :poetry is evident at times ;Ln.: Akenside~·s. work; but - h~s :i.magi~ati'o_P.:-, ' ... .. >j-'' . ; _· . . . ·-: '
·· is u_sual;Iy , en~umbered by hi~ .~nabili ty tq ·break _away ··coniplete'ly ·
from··the literary ~onvendotls ., of ,the . ~eo-~iassidal Age. , . ~~om the ~ .. ': ' . ·' . . . . . ' ·' ... ·. . . . . . . . . •. :
. point- of view of his poetic acc~mp~ishmen~. t~IE!tefoi;~.,. - Ak.enside · /
U' ' • •• ~ t
ca~ · -only be ·clasEJi.fied as a ~nor po.et;· and yE!'t, his rol~- as a· ·\·
~ . "' . . - . . . . . . . . ~ . . -. ~ ' . . precursor of the English Romanti'C. 111ovement must' 'certainly be seen
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Abrams, Meyer }I• . · The Mirror · and the Lamp: .Romantic Theory ·and-- the · . ' 'Crit:l.cal-'Traditiott. : _New. York: Oxford -Uiliversity Presa·, .. l953:. · ·. . . . - . .
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