Essay/Term paper: Samuel coleridge- frost at midnight

Essay, term paper, research paper:  High School Essays

Samuel Coleridge"s: Frost at Midnight


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.