The Creative Word, the Birth of Sound and Imagination in Samuel Taylor Coleridge

In this analysis S.T. Coleridge’s works which are investigated not simply in the light of, but in parallel with Panikkar’s imaginative and scientific vision: symbolic language represents both for Coleridge and Panikkar an essential spiritual tool for their metaphysical quest. In detecting shared philosophical religious and metaphysical interests, Riem shows the profound affinities between the two intellectuals. S.T. Coleridge’s poetic theory of Imagination as an active power of creation working through a symbolic use of language intensely resonates with Panikkar’s theory of the “creative word”.