Romantic Revision and Coleridge’s Poetical ‘Dejection’

none1noRevision is a fundamental part in the process of writing and, in a general sense, a revisionary nature or character can be identified in all written literature. This notwithstanding, the recursive nature of revision may be regarded as problematic and adverse especially when this practice is used in creative writing. This problem is particularly evident in Romantic poetry since the revising process, denoting an alteration of the original conception, may seem to some extent antithetical to its own assumptions of authenticity. S.T. Coleridge was one of the most productive and ‘inveterate reviser[s]’ of the Romantic period [Ve-Yin Tee, 2009]. During his lifetime, Coleridge revised almost everything that he wrote, often re-vising his poems by altering their structure and aim. Examples include ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’ (1798) and ‘Kubla Khan’ (1816), which Coleridge claimed to have written almost extempore. This essay investigates the complex relationship between original conception and revising practice in Coleridge’s works, and examines a specific case in Coleridge’s history of revisions, namely the poem known as ‘Dejection: An Ode’, which underwent major changes before achieving its final form. The first version of ‘Dejection: An Ode’ was written in 1802 and revised in the same year. However, the many differences between ‘A Letter’ and the final version, included in the 1834 Poetical Works, indicate that Coleridge’s authorial intentions drastically changed.noneFabio LibertoFabio Libert