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Coleridge couldn't keep up with Wordsworth in terms of number of poems and felt his end of the series unequal. Wordsworth published the book and presented it as an experiment.
Therefore, Coleridge did not get much say on his ideas of what the function of poetry should be until later when he published Biographia Literaria.
Lyrical Ballads
Coleridge believed poetry should awaken the imagination of the reader by representing some semblance of truth while at the same time containing supernatural qualities.
The two poets agreed that poetry should adhere to two main ideas.
1. The power of exciting the sympathy of the reader by a faithful adherence to the truth of nature.
2. The power of giving the interest of novelty by modifying the colors of the imagination.
The poets decided to write a series of poems, one adhering to the first idea and another to the second. The problem lay in the individual poet's way of creating the desired effect.
Coleridge was to try to invoke a semblance of truth through exploration of the supernatural. He encouraged a willing suspension of disbelief in his readers and constituted poetic faith.
Response to Kubla Khan
The supernatural in Kubla Khan
Caves of Ice!
Poet Mary Robinson responded to Coleridge's Kubla Khan with a poem wherein she claimed to join the "spirit divine" and wander "imagination's boundless space!" and the "caves of ice". She was clearly in the world of the supernatural with Coleridge in that moment.
Page 671-672
Kubla Khan
Rustic in Nature v. Supernatural
Wordsworth believed that the best way communicate to his readers was to write in the common language of men and appeal to the low and rustic lifestyle.
Coleridge would argue that this would limit the vocabulary greatly. He thought the people reading poetry were not likely to be the people living the "rustic" life and therefore would not understand the conversation.