“The true flowering of Coleridge’s poetic genius (1772-1834) was brief, but its fruit was rich and wonderful.” (Albert, 2002)
Coleridge’s poems are characterized by intense creative power, over which he exercises complete and consummate control. The poem ‘Frost at Midnight’ is imbued with the poet’s unmistakable artistic sense.
Theme Having been blessed with a son in 1796, Coleridge composed the poem soon after and as he did so, the memory of his own childhood comes back to him. The poet wishes that, unlike him, his son grows up like a child in the midst of nature and is capable of absorbing everything that nature has to teach her. His child should not be a prisoner in an inhabited city from where he can see nothing but dim stars and a dirty sky.
Resume
The poet’s little son sleeps peacefully near the fire. All the others are also asleep in the silent night. The poet is only awake sitting near the fire. The silence is so complete that the poet cannot think clearly except for the momentary song of an owl, after which the heavy and disturbing silence descends again. The iron bars and flaps of the fireplace tremble indefinitely as the small blue flames from the fire flicker softly licking the grate. It seems to Coleridge that the moving flames and he are the only living things in the silent world.
The poet recalls his school days when he dreamily looked at the bars thinking of his birthplace. The church bell would be ringing softly in his ears from the past. This was the only music he knew when he was in town. He would be worried about the sound of the bells and his birthplace throughout the morning of the next day at school, but also worried at the same time that the strict principal would pass him by. The words on the pages of the open book would begin to float before his eyes even as he tried hard to focus on the lesson. When sometimes the door of the classroom was opened a little, his face showed a disappointed expression because the person who would enter would not be his aunt or his sister whom he used to play with.
The breath of the poet’s little son, now quite audible in the absolute stillness of the night, cradled next to him, seems to fill the empty spaces of his thoughts. The poet is delighted that his son is playing in the mountainous areas under the open sky. The child’s innocent wisdom will make him communicate with the sights and sounds of nature in his own way, and God will make his presence felt in the child’s soul. The poet hopes that this childhood will shape the spirit of his son in such a way that one day he will realize that nature is nothing more than a subtle manifestation of God himself.
It is the poet’s fervent hope that his son will be prepared to learn all the seasons, whether it be the lush greenery of summer or the stark cold of winter when dewdrops freeze on the roof.