This study provides a more in-depth examination of Coleridge's poem This Lime-Tree Bower my Prison. It describes some of the poem's literal works, such as symbolism, imagination, and personification. The analysis also reveals additional information about the speaker's personality based on his imagination and relationships with his friends. The paper sheds further light on the speaker's personality, particularly his love and passion for environment. Many quotations and exclamation marks are used in the poem to emphasize this point. The paper will establish the relationship between these elements and the main objective of the poem which involves the love of nature. Despite this poem expressing the love for nature in a wide extent, it also expresses how the speaker has diverse thoughts regarding his surroundings. At first, the poet views his surroundings in a different perspective. The title of the poem is also different from the poem’s content in second and third stanza. This analysis shades more light on this difference. In a nutshell, this analysis will evaluate the stylistic devices and other poetic styles applied by the poet in presenting his work.
This poem starts off as a nostalgic based poem since the poet begins at an accident that led to him becoming crippled. However, this condition does not control the whole story since the speaker uses this setback as an opportunity to express his feelings (Vickers et al. 267). Throughout the poem, it is evident that the poet attempts to express his love of nature despite him being in a confined place. The poem is a representation and expression of Coleridge’s train of thoughts. This trail of thoughts images Charles together with his friends as part of this journey. The limiting state of mind prevents the poet from properly expressing his thoughts, however, he manages to overcome these challenges through imagination (Coles, 12-21).
When one is reading this poem, it is easier to mistake it with dialogue. One may feel that they are reading a conversation poem. However, this is a lyrically dramatic poem that the poet composed after his friends visited his cottage "Talking With Nature In &Quot; This Lime-Tree Bower My Prison&Quot;." (Coles, 12-21).This poem can easily be confused with a conversation poem that involves different types of audiences. In conversation poems, the poet passes information to a certain group of people by either directly or indirectly referring to them creating aspects of the conversation. In this poem, the author uses different styles to express his ideas. These styles may easily be confused with dialogues among or normal conversations. However, the whole poem is a monologue. The author uses this poem to express his own thoughts after he was left by his friends who went for an evening walk.
After the arrival of his friends, the speaker was excited since he had been waiting for these friends for a long time. Unfortunately, he was involved in an accident that denied him several privileges and chances to associate with his friends. One evening after his friends left for a walk, the speaker wrote these lines in a garden-bower. It is important to understand the mood in this poem since the author is motivated by the state of being left alone and the surrounding nature hence the mood is dynamic. Through the poem, the speaker expresses his frustration of not going for a walk and at the same time expresses his love for nature. He perceives the surrounding as a beautiful and serene. These diverse feelings are evident throughout the poem. For instance, the speaker starts by expressing his bitterness and frustration," Well, they are gone, and here must I remain, /this lime-tree bower my poison!” (Coleridge, stanza 1)
The speaker compares himself to a prisoner. This happens in the first stanza when he compares the lime tree with the prison walls. He perceives this tree as a hurdle that prevents him from walking with his friends. The whole garden is perceived as a prison that prevents the speaker from enjoying the company of his friends. He concludes that were it not for that accident; he could be enjoying with his friends. Comparing different situations is a common style in dramatic poems. The speaker compares his garden with a prison. He also compares himself to a prisoner.
Imagination is also a major theme in this poem. The poet uses imagination to express different themes and ideas (Grace, 20-33). For instance, he imagines the beauty of nature by placing himself in a position of a friend, Charles. He attempts to compare himself with a friend who happens to be among other friends in the walk. He can view and envy the surrounding natural beauty. He imagines himself being in his friends’ walk as he enjoys natural beauty. He vividly describes this imagination hence bringing out a more realistic picture to the mind of the reader. This description takes place at the end of the first stanza. He describes this nature in more lively and interesting manner such that the element of frustrations and disappointment tends to fade away. “Now, my friends emerge beneath the wide Heaven- and view again the many stepped tract magnificent of Hilly fields and meadows and the sea". The speaker can be mistaken for an observer. The speaker describes the surrounding as a person with a firsthand information regarding this view. The way this description is expressed shows that the speaker is convinced that the surrounding is marvelous and pleasing to behold. “Of Purple shadow! Yes! They wander on” (Coleridge, stanza 2)
The poem is also rich in images and several similes. In the second stanza, the author focusses on imagination rather than describing his encounter with the friends and the accident. The speaker employs sensuous description which increases the amount of imagery in the poem. The imagination and the excitement are so intense such that the author shouts yes! before he begins this imaginative journey. The author continues to imagine the nature of reaction he could be having if he had an opportunity to join his friends in their evening walk, in fact, he goes a step further to imagine which friend would be more mesmerized by this nature.
The speaker imagines that his friends Charles would be more excited by the surrounding and its natural beauties. The author argues that Charles would be excited since he is used to city life where such beauties are rarely found (Coleridge, 21-67). This shows that the speaker is well informed and conversant with the city life. This type of imagination is closely related to the historical experiences whereby people from the city have proved to be more fascinated with the nature world. Furthermore, this reaction is easily predictable. This implies that the speaker’s imagination has a higher chance of reflecting the actual reaction from the Charles.
The level of imagination continues to rise since the poet goes a step further to order the nature to give its best during this evening walk. The speaker instructs the nature to bring out its best features to please Charles and other friends. Moreover, he likens the nature’s beauty with the true spirit of God. This shows that the poet is a believer and a lover of nature, he credits God for the beautiful environment. Nature operates on its own without the control of man. However, he requests it to listen to his instructions. For instance, he instructs the sun to sink slowly, the flowers to shine through the beams of the sinking sun and the clouds to burn richer. The poet wants them to perform better in a bid to please Charles who had made an effort to visit him from the city.
Exclamation marks are eminent and largely used by the poet to express his excitement and other feelings. He is enamored by the beauty of the surrounding nature and hence decides to express this feeling by the use of these marks. The speaker expresses his emotional reaction to nature’s beautiful view. This reaction is well expressed by the use of exclamation marks throughout the poem. The mood of the poem has already changed, and the loneliness and regret feeling has been replaced with a mood lively and happier mood. Furthermore, the bower is no longer perceived as a prison. The author acknowledges the surrounding and so does he admire the bower and nature around him.
The author uses the end of every stanza as the best place to shift a theme. For instance, he uses the end of his first stanza to transition from a lonely mood to a more excited mood (Coleridge, 21-67). At first, the author considered the act of being left out of his friends who went for a walk as an underserved imprisonment. However, he changes this perception at the end of the first stanza as he begins to imagine how his friends are enjoying the surrounding considering that some of them have not experienced such views. The second stanza is also transitioned using the same style. The speaker concentrates on an imagination of the experiences by his friends. Through this imagery, he expresses his feelings regarding the surrounding nature. This theme continues to reign throughout the second stanza. However, it changes as the author starts to transition his ideas. He starts to link nature and God’s creation. The speaker introduces the notion of God’s existence and presence in the entire nature. He also acknowledges how wonderful this God’s creation is as he attempts to show that God’s presence is eminently expressed by the beauty of the surrounding.
Personification is a common style that poets use to express their desire to a particular character or scenario, in fact, they liken these elements with themselves or other people. In the last stanza, the speaker’s level of imagination is so high such that he begins to personify the surround nature as its friend. The author’s attention and imagination shifts from the walk to lime-tree bower where he starts to express his emotions to the natural world. The speaker also continues to express his desire and likeness for the surrounding by insisting that his perception over nature is fixed. For instance, he was blaming the garden for his inability to join other friends in an evening walk. However, this perception has changed since he attempts to shown its magnificence to an extent of calling it his friend. The speaker is no longer referring to the garden as a friend. It is ironic that the speaker is referring to the tree as its friend despite it not changing. There has not been any changes in the surrounding. In actuality, the speaker has not moved or altered this garden to change his perception over the garden. The hate over this garden is surpassed by the love over nature.
The last stanza brings the reader from the world of imagination to reality. In stanza three, all occurrences are taking place through imagination. The speaker does not express his desires and thoughts on real scenarios but rather he expresses his thoughts from the fantasy. However, this style changes when he starts to value the surrounding around him. He expresses his desire for the surrounding nature. This takes the reader from the fantasy and imagination to the real world. He appreciates the ideal and imagined nature by valuing the real surrounding such as the lime-tree bower. This stanza brings a vivid and real image of the whole imagination. We are certain that whatever information the speaker is giving out is the real picture on the ground. This description also implies that the bat, tree and the bee described by the speaker are not imaginaries but rather real images.
Notably, the poet’s imagination is of paramount importance in the poem. It is through this imagination that the reader comprehends the nature of the surrounding and the author’s love for the nature world. However, the whole credit cannot be given to imagination of the poet since imagery has also played an important role in achieving the intended purpose. Imagery is responsible in giving a clear image of how the narrator’s passion deeply engraved in nature. Therefore, both the poet’s imagination and imagery are important in providing a vivid image of the surrounding.
Certain lines in the third stanza clearly shows that the poet love for nature cannot be compromised. For instance, “keep the heart/ Awake to love and beauty!. This shows that the speaker is encouraging other people to understand their surrounding and embrace their goodness. Secondly, the speaker values the role of nature. He argues that one would understand the purpose of life after valuing the purpose of nature, “No sound is dissonant which tells of Life”, all these statements attempt to show the nature and qualities of the poet.
Besides the thematic achievements of the poem, the poet has presented his work in simple and creative manner. Coleridge transitions Daylight, twilight and evening lights in a simple and easily understandable style. A reader may be tempted to conclude that the follow of events between considering the bower as a prison and glorification of the surrounding are too sudden to be believable. The author uses various occurrences and situation to transition between these scenarios. He starts by showing how the light passes through the trees to the ground, when the sun is still high-daylight and lastly when the sun passes sideways. These three situations are representations of the passage of time.
In line 11, the author uses imagery to describe how the sun first hits the ground. He tries to explain how the sun attempts to penetrate through the densely populated by wood. This imagery is used to show the reader that the time is daylight. The next transition takes place in line 33 to 38 where the author speaks to the sun by requesting it to make the best expression to please his friend Charles. Within these lines, the author explains how boats are lit by the sun and the islands are already turning purple. Lastly, line 55 to 57 shows that it is getting dark. The author states that the ivy is becoming darker than the trees in their surroundings.
Symbolism is also common in this poem as the author attempts to relate certain elements in his surroundings (Gale, 2016). The most common symbolism in this poem is the use of a rook. This is a bird whose image resembles that of a cow. The speaker uses the rook as the link between him and Charles lamb in the course of his evening walk. Despite the distance between them, the rook is used as a link between them. He communicates to the rook and expects that the message will get to Charles as he does the same. The speaker assumes that he has attached a lucky charm to it for the sake of Charles while he is away for the walk. All the other birds have already left, but this rook continues to hang around the tree. This scenario motivates his belief that this bird will achieve his objective.
The speaker of the poem is also an important element of this poem. His flow of ideas and arguments depicts both maturity and immaturity. The immaturity of his thoughts is based on his comparison on his garden with a prison. The speaker was rendered helpless by accident but not the garden. However, he does not acknowledge this fact but rather chooses to assume it and instead blames the garden for his inability to join his friends in their walk. The speakers goes a step further to argue that he was locked in that “prison” where his friend Charles may never return. He later praises the garden for its beauty as he enjoys the setting of the sun. Secondly, the speaker is protecting his friends and pretends to care yet he does not fancy spending time with them, they have spent a long period before this meeting.
The speaker’s maturity is also evident throughout the poem. He is sensitive to pain and hardships. He narrated a story when his sister killed Charles’ mother is a mental problem altercation. The speaker does not present this scenario at once but rather expresses uses sensitive and protective tone to ensure that this pain and hardship is not rekindled in his heart.
Conclusion
Coleridge’s poem is diverse in terms of themes, styles and other poet devices. First, the poem is adventurous and imaginative hence motivates the reader to continue reading. Personification and symbolism are also of paramount importance in achieving the speaker’s objectives (Chadwick, 21-33). However, imagination has been widely applied in the poem. Most of the speaker’s action takes place in stanza two where he is imagining being with his friend in an evening walk. Through this image, we are informed of how the speaker is fascinated by nature. It is also through this imagination that we understand how the speaker is concerned about the wellbeing of his friends (XU, Jian-gang, Rong, 17-22). He symbolizes a bird with a communication channel while attempting to send a good luck chum to his friends. All these actions take place in his imagination.
Works cited
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