In the poem, "Frost at Midnight,"
Samuel Coleridge uses his creative
imagery and fascination with nature to create a beautiful picture of the gifts
God has given him and us. He uses a
style of prose, which has no particular rhyme or meter. This could be used to help convey his meaning
in a more storylike way. The poem is
broken down into four paragraphs of varying length and all, primarily, deal
with nature.
The poem starts out in a slow and somber mood
as he talks about the peacefulness and beauty of nature. He uses many words and phrases to emphasize
this particular mood, such as, "peacefully", "inaudible as
dreams", "Tis calm indeed", and "my low-burnt
fire." In this first paragraph,
Coleridge is talking about winter and how everything is peaceful and there is
"extreme silentness."
In the second paragraph, Coleridge begins
reminiscing about a certain day in school, when he was fairly young, "How
oft, at school, with most believing mind...have I gazed upon the
bars." At first, it appears he was
very happy, "So sweetly, that they stirred and haunted me with a wild
pleasure..." But as this paragraph
progresses, he begins to show the loneliness in his life, "For still I
hoped to see the stranger's face."
Though his mood begins to change there still is a calm and somber
feeling.
In paragraph three, Colridge is holding his
son, while appreciating nature and what it will give to his child, "it
thrills my heart with tender gladness, thus to look at thee, and think that
thou shalt learn for other lore..."
He also shows his appreciation of God and what he has given us. This is the first paragraph where I felt he
showed consistent happiness and a faster-paced mood.
Coleridge concludes his poem by showing his
appreciation for all aspects of nature, not just the winter, "Therefore
all seasons shall be sweet to thee."
He makes a reference to every season of the year and points out a
beautiful aspect of each. Though the
last paragraph makes these references, clearly, winter is the overall
underlying theme of this poem.
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