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About this quote

What does it mean?
The Rhine River washes Cologne, but the speaker asks what divine power will cleanse the river itself.
In plain terms
Cologne is cleaned by the Rhine, yet what will clean the Rhine?
What can you take from it?
Consider the source of cleansing, not just its effect.

Where it applies

  • environmental reflection
  • philosophical debate

Putting it to work

  • protect waterways
  • seek deeper meaning

Questions to consider

  • What does it mean to cleanse the source?
  • How do we address systemic issues?

Another view

The question is rhetorical and lacks a concrete answer.

More from Samuel Taylor Coleridge

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  3. In many ways doth the full heart reveal The presence of the love it would conceal.

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