Colour and Experience in Nineteenth-Century Poetry

This study examines words used for colour as they appear in the work of some of the nineteenth century poets, which opens the way to a discussion of the relation in nineteenth century poems between language, experience and value. The author traces in each of the poets Keats, Browning and Hopkins the forging of language that mediates between a system of values and the flux of experience. Colour words become crucial indicators of a way of looking at the world that defines the poetry of the nineteenth century. Richard Cronin is author of "Shelley's Poetic Thoughts".