Frost At Midnight Analysis

“Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility” (Wordsworth, Preface to the Lyrical Ballads.). Quoted above is an accurate depiction of how sentimental and felicitous the poetry of Wordsworth and Coleridge are, in response to the description in the question. Both poets allow themselves this space “in which to move his wings” through exploring lamentations on the past and reminiscing on the natural world and places that granted them gratification. Ultimately, the blank verse style, in which both are composed, acts as a blank canvas, allowing them this opportunity to delve into their senses. Moreover, their poems Tintern Abbey and Frost at Midnight are prime examples of the

Frost at Midnight achieves just that, reflecting the poet’s introspective sense of mind, as well as highlighting the same pantheistic view and uncomplicated, conversational language that Wordsworth shared. Opening the poem with the line “The Frost performs its secret ministry” (1), breaks in the subtle pantheistic views of Coleridge, and will allow him to expand his thoughts against the “extreme silentness” (10) of the night. Coleridge creates a sense of immediacy, captivating the reader with his sudden break in line; “The owlet's cry / Came loud—and hark, again!” (2-3), blatantly interrupting the “hush of nature” (17). This sensation of solitude and quietness is amplified by the repetition of words relating to sleep, calm and stillness, allowing the imagination to run free and conjure up fantastic images, like a “thin blue flame” (13), described as a “fluttering stranger” (26). In addition, metaphors are used to enhance the imagination and create this perception of imprisonment, as shown by the word “bars” (26) in place of school grates, in describing the poet’s unpleasant school years. Ultimately, Coleridge creates a connection between his thoughts and the readers by means of his aesthetic, sensual language and contrast between the stillness of the night and the alertness of his senses to allow

Charles Smith explains how “the scene itself has changed little or not at all”, yet, “the poet has changed a great deal.” (Smith, 1184-1199.). Essentially, Wordsworth reminisces on his rural childhood, and compares it to his present self, as he has “learned / To look on nature, not as in the hour / Of thoughtless youth” (89-91). This exact progression and understanding depicts his new-found ability to look back and envisage these beautiful memories which provided him with “sensations sweet, / Felt in the blood, and felt along the heart.” (28-29), “In hours of weariness” (28). Furthermore, Wordsworth acknowledges the positive impact that this scene has left on him mentally and physically, allowing him to access a state of mind in which the issues of the world are merely displaced out of this narrative; he develops a view into “the life of things” (50) as a “living soul” (47). Pantheism can also be viewed as a sensation this scene allows Wordsworth to discover, as he states that “Almost suspended, we are laid asleep / In body” when we experience nostalgia. Correspondingly, the idea of sensation and freedom is provoked when he expresses his hopes that when he passes, he can still live on and spread his wings through his “dear, dear