As regards the first statement, i.e. the choice of rustic characters and life, Coleridge points out, first, that not all Wordsworth’s characters are chosen from low or rustic life. Characters in poems like “Ruth” and “Michael” are not low and rustic in the usual acceptance of these words. Secondly, their language and sentiments do not necessarily arise from their abode or occupation. In the opinion of Coleridge, a man will not be benefited from a life in rural solitudes, unless he has (a) natural sensibility, and (b) suitable education. In the absence of these advantages, in rural conditions the mind hardens and a man grows, “selfish, sensual, gross, and hard-hearted.”
As regards the second statement of Wordsworth, Coleridge objects to the view that
the best part of language is derived from the objects with which the rustic hourly
communicates. First, communication with an object implies reflection on it, and the
richness of vocabulary arises from such reflection. Now the rural conditions of life do not
require any reflection, hence the vocabulary of the rustics is poor. They can express only
the barest facts of nature, and not the ideas and thoughts—universal laws—which result
from reflection on such facts. Secondly, the best part of a man’s language does not result
merely from communication with nature, but from education, from the mind’s dwelling
on noble thoughts and ideals of the master minds of humanity.
Coming then to a detailed consideration of Wordsworth’s theory of poetic diction he
takes up his statements, one by one, and demonstrates that his views are not justified.
Coleridge points out that every man’s language varies according to the extent of his
knowledge, the activity of his faculties, and the depth or quickness of his feelings. Every
man’s language has, first, its individual peculiarities; secondly, the properties common to
the class to which he belongs; and thirdly, words and phrases of universal use. No two
men of the same class or of different classes speak alike, although both use words and
phrases common to them all.
Coleridge said that there is, and there ought to be an essential difference between the
language of prose and that of poetry. The language of poetry differs from that of prose in
the same way in which the language of prose differs and ought to differ from the language
of conversation. Coleridge gives a number of reasons in support of his view. First,
language is both a matter of words, and the arrangement of those words. Now, words both
in prose and poetry may be the same, but their arrangement is different. Metre is not a
mere superficial decoration, but an essential organic part of a poem. Hence there is bound
to be an essential difference between the language i.e. the arrangement of words, of poetry
and prose. There may be certain lines or even passages which can be used both in prose
and poetry, but not all. There are passages which will suit the one and not the other. Thus
Coleridge refuted Wordsworth’s views on the themes and language of poetry
