What Does the Poem Do?

Abstract

The poem is approached by multiple points of entry rather than within the limits of a continuous single reading. The eight short parts discuss topics such as how a notably simple vocabulary and verse form are made to create the most subtle effects; how sound and imagery come together in a distinctive way; how a traditional narrative form (the ballad) is reworked to communicate meanings at the very edge of and beyond proper comprehension; and how, in the end, the peculiar transformation common to these processes presented Coleridge with a core problem in philosophy that he spent the remainder of his life pursuing.