Coleridge

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"ERE on my bed my limbs I lay,
It hath not been my use to pray
With moving lips or bended knees;
But silently, by slow degrees,
My spirit I to Love compose,
In humble trust mine eyelids close,
With reverential resignation,
No wish conceived, no thought exprest,
Only a sense of supplication;
A sense o’er all my soul imprest
That I am weak, yet not unblest,
Since in me, round me, everywhere
Eternal Strength and Wisdom are."

This first stanza from Coleridge's "The Pains of Sleep" is beautiful. Obviously the rest of the poem takes a more dramatic, negative route (at least in connotation), but this stanza is one of complete peace. The part that is truly amazing to me is "only a sense of supplication; a sense o'er all my soul imprest... round me, everywhere Eternal Strength and Wisdom are." Forget about verbal prayer, about stepping out, about the religious cycles of ritual; just laying and being in a state of supplication, of humble approach/ request is enough for the child, for the believer. And the word choice in using capital "s" Strength and capital "w" Wisdom is amazing for those are two aspects of God that in the rest of the poem, almost seem forgotten. Coleridge's use of connotation, and a sense of.. not visual imagery in this stanza but emotional/sensual imagery for his readers sets the scene for the rest of this poem and leaves a taste of peace in the midst of the chaotic following stanza to be reconciled in the last few lines.


P. S. I commented on Michael and Darby's posts.

Comments

  1. Nathanael C. CarrollOctober 16, 2017 at 10:23 PM

    Also, noting the idea of sleep surrounds this idea of supplication is beautiful. Being who one is, when the lights are out, fading into sleep is a place where no-one can fake who they are anymore. Then the nightmare stuff sets in... Anyway, just thought I would add that.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ethan LafontOctober 16, 2017 at 10:47 PM

    Reading it by itself, it almost seems like it could be its own little poem. Without the rest of the poem, you'd maybe not come to a somber and negative conclusion on where its supposed to take you once you finish.

    ReplyDelete

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