The Mirror and the Lamp: Romantic Theory and the Critical Tradition

The primary concern of aesthetics as a philosophy is to define art and determine its use, purpose, or effect on human thought, society, and experience. Throughout The Mirror and the Lamp, Abrams traces the development of different theories of literary criticism to illuminate the various ways one can explore the nature of poetry, especially in the field of literary criticism.  

Abrams focuses on poetry as the primary artistic expression, though his book enters into a broader philosophical field by offering a survey of aesthetic thought. Abrams is significantly concerned with the definition of poetry, and more specifically with the critical opinion throughout history on what constitutes good poetry or great poetry. His discussions of where poetry comes from, what poetry is, and how to evaluate poetry all work together to construct a cohesive picture of the nature of poetry from a critical, rather than artistic, perspective.

In several places, Abrams discusses the various definitions of poetry offered by literary and philosophical movements. In addition to his coordinates of poetic criticism, he discusses tensions in major philosophical movements. The attempts to define poetry involve