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Secular or Eclectic : Romantic 19th Century	About Samuel Taylor Coleridge Timeline (1772 - 1834)
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Original Language English	Reason
Commentary by Ivan M. Granger Themes   King   Light         Recommended Books The Annotated Ancient Mariner , by Samuel Taylor Coleridge / Edited by Martin Gardner Coleridge's Writings: On the Sublime, by Samuel Taylor Coleridge / Edited by David Vallins The Life of Samuel Taylor Coleridge: A Critical Biography, by Rosemary Ashton Poems of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, by Samuel Taylor Coleridge The Poetry of Coleridge (Audio Book), by Ralph Richardson More >>	...Finally, what is Reason ? You have often asked me ; and this is my answer :--      Whene'er the mist, that stands 'twixt God and thee,      Sublimates to a pure transparency,      That intercepts no light and adds no stain--      There Reason is, and then begins her reign !      But alas !      --`tu stesso, ti fai grosso           Col falso immaginar, sì che non vedi           Ciò che vedresti, se l'avessi scosso.      [You yourself blind yourself      With delusion's dream, so you do not see      What you'd see if you had shaken it off.]   1830
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Commentary by Ivan M. Granger

Just a few lines, but if you really read the selection it opens with rich wisdom.

The "Reason" he speaks of is not the modern sense of "logic." Coleridge is clearly speaking of Awareness, Consciousness.

I love the first two lines of that central verse:

Whene'er the mist, that stands 'twixt God and thee,
Sublimates to a pure transparency,

That "mist," that space or perceived distance between the individual and God, between lover and Beloved, between self and Self... Through stillness and quiet witnessing, when that space "sublimates," becoming clear and transparent so that it "intercepts no light and adds no stain" -- in that pure spaciousness is where Awareness or "Reason" is finally recognized. It is not that Awareness occupies that space, it IS that space, thus it "reigns."

The closing verse is quoting from Dante's Paradiso in Italian, Canto 1, lines 88 - 90. Yes, Awareness is always there, the space of being but, sadly, we mist-ify it, and thus "blind" ourselves through our own mental projection and "delusion's dream." But, in that trap is also the key to liberation. By accepting our own role in drawing the veil in front of our eyes, we also begin to recognize we have the power to shake it off...

Ivan M. Granger's original poetry, stories and commentaries are Copyright © 2002 - 2008 by Ivan M. Granger.
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