The One Life: Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Hinduism

For the first time, a monographic study of Coleridge’s work extensively uncovers the connections of his poetry with the Hindu view of life. This study investigates Coleridge’s philosophical and spiritual itinerary; it originally contributes in showing the strong impact the first translations of some texts of Hinduism had on the author’s psyche, philosophical approach and poetical inspiration. In addition, Coleridge’s unpublished manuscript notes found in one of the Abbé J. A. Dubois’ seminal studies of India are here presented as proof of the poet’s long standing interest in and frequentation of Hinduism. Inclined to investigate the complexities of the human condition, both poetically and philosophically, Coleridge has tried to resolve the extremes of human existence through a synthesis of both Western and Oriental visions through which the universe ultimately emerges as an organic cosmos rhythmically unfolding through an intricate web of influxes, echoes and correspondences. Antonella Riem Natale’s scholarly work invites readers to participate in the open-ended adventure of Coleridge’s quest toward the Divine One and its multi-faceted layers of existence by originally combining textual analysis with all recent literary criticism and inter-disciplinary investigations, encompassing mythological, anthropological, philosophical, scientific and historical fields of study. Weaving personal facets of Coleridge’s artistic sensibility with the Hindu world-view, the underlying metaphysical concerns that were integral to his vision of art and existence are thus unravelled in a coherent and poignant reinterpretation of an extraordinary poet and his times.