In England the romantic stream flows … from Coleridge too. …from Scott; Newman in that ruinous master saw … One who restored our faculty for awe, Who re-discovered the depth and height soul’s Who pricked with needles of the eternal light An England at that time half numbed to death With Paley’s, Bentham’s Malthus’ wintry breath. Indeed, in this poem we can see the key images of depth and height and even anticipate, if we wish, the glorious power of an imaginative Christ figure who frees Narnia, to from a Lewis would have read death’ White Witch’s ‘wintry breath.’ Though as a matter of course, he was fortunate in having as a Biographia Literaria Coleridge’s close friend and and best of my unofficial for whom ‘wisest teachers,’ Owen Barfield understanding of imagination was essential for a complete renewal of the Coleridge’s way we see the world. In this poem Lewis has already set out the kind To Roy Campbell of thing imaginative apologetics might be called on to do: to our faculty of ‘restore awe,’ to the soul re-discover its depth and height and in telling and beautiful ‘help Lewis’ phrase to with needles of eternal a benumbed contemporary culture. But, ‘prick light’ perhaps the most helpful mapping of the terrain Lewis was to body forth and explore in books like and and is The Ransom Trilogy The Chronicles of Narnia Till We Have Faces to be found in the programme Wordsworth and Coleridge set themselves at the beginning of the Romantic movement, as it was later recalled by Coleridge in Biographia Literaria: In this idea originated the plan of the lyrical ballads in which it was agreed that my endeavours should be directed to persons and character supernatural, or at least romantic; yet so as to transfer from our inward nature a human
In England the romantic stream flows … …from Scott; from Coleridge too. … Newman in that ruinous master saw One who restored our faculty for awe, Who re-discovered the soul’s depth and height Who pricked with needles of the eternal light An England at that time half numbed to death With Paley’s, Bentham’s Malthus’ wintry breath. Indeed, in this poem we can see the key images of depth and height and even anticipate, if we wish, the glorious power of an imaginative Christ figure who frees Narnia, to death’ from a White Witch’s ‘wintry breath.’ Though Lewis would have read Coleridge’s Biographia Literaria as a matter of course, he was fortunate in having as a close friend and ‘wisest and best of my unofficial teachers,’ Owen Barfield for whom Coleridge’s understanding of imagination was essential for a complete renewal of the way we see the world. In this poem To Roy Campbell Lewis has already set out the kind of thing imaginative apologetics might be called on to do: to ‘restore our faculty of awe,’ to ‘help the soul re-discover its depth and height and in Lewis’ telling and beautiful phrase to ‘prick with needles of eternal light’ a benumbed contemporary culture. But, perhaps the most helpful mapping of the terrain Lewis was to body forth and explore in books like The Ransom Trilogy and The Chronicles of Narnia and Till We Have Faces is to be found in the programme Wordsworth and Coleridge set themselves at the beginning of the Romantic movement, as it was later recalled by Coleridge in Biographia Literaria: In this idea originated the plan of the lyrical ballads in which it was agreed that my endeavours should be directed to persons and character supernatural, or at least romantic; yet so as to transfer from our inward nature a human