Ode is a poem written by Samuel Taylor Coleridge in 1802. The poem
in its original form was written to Sara Hutchinson, a woman who was not his
wife, and discusses his feelings of love for her. The various versions of the
poem describe Coleridge's inability to write poetry and living in a state of
paralysis, but published editions remove his personal feelings and mention of
Hutchinson.
Form
The long ode stanzas of “Dejection” are metered in iambic lines
ranging in length from trimeter to pentameter. The rhymes alternate between
bracketed rhymes (ABBA) and couplets (CC) with occasional exceptions.
Commentary
In this poem, Coleridge continues his sophisticated philosophical
exploration of the relationship between man and nature, positing as he did in
“The Nightingale” that human feelings and the forms of nature are essentially
separate. Just as the speaker insisted in the earlier poem that the
nightingale’s song should not be called melancholy simply because it sounded so
to a melancholy poet, he insists here that the beauty of the sky before the
storm does not have the power to fill him with joy, for the source of human
feeling is within. Only when the individual has access to that source, so that
joy shines from him like a light, is he able to see the beauty of nature and to
respond to it. (As in “Frost in Midnight,” the city-raised Coleridge insists on
a sharper demarcation between the mind and nature than the country-raised
Wordsworth would ever have done.
Coleridge blames his desolate numbness for sapping his creative
powers and leaving him without his habitual method of understanding human
nature. Despite his insistence on the separation between the mind and the
world, Coleridge nevertheless continues to find metaphors for his own feelings
in nature: His dejection is reflected in the gloom of the night as it awaits
the storm.
Theme
& meaning
Coleridge composed “Dejection: An Ode” as a direct response to the
first four stanzas of William Wordsworth’s “Ode: Intimations of Immortality”
(1807), in which Wordsworth lamented the loss of his childhood ability to see
nature clothed in celestial light. Some of the phrases in Coleridge’s ode are
clearly intended as allusions to Wordsworth’s poem. Compare, for example,
Coleridge’s “I see, not feel, how beautiful they are” with Wordsworth’s “The
fullness of your bliss, I feel—I feel it all.”
In its theory of perception, the ode marks a sharp break with
Wordsworth’s views, which Coleridge had previously shared. Wordsworth thought
that a higher vision of life could be obtained through an “ennobling
interchange,” or marriage, between the human mind and nature. Coleridge had
himself placed a very high value on the role that nature should play in the
education of the human mind, especially in poems such as “Frost at Midnight”
and “The Dungeon” (1798). In “Dejection: An Ode,” he repudiates this view. He
gazes out on a beautiful scene, but this does nothing to lift his spirits or
rekindle his imaginative power. He concludes that “outward forms” are of no use
unless the inner mind is vibrant: “we receive but what we give,/ And in our
life alone does Nature live.” Only if the mind is full of joy will it be able
to perceive the unifying spirit that runs through all things, and so overcome
the split between subject and object. Only then can Wordsworth’s marriage
metaphor, which Coleridge also employs in this poem, have any meaning.
Interpreters have differed over the question of whether the poet
(as speaker) shows any imaginative growth during the course of the poem. The
general view is that he does not and that the final stanza, even though it
brings the poem to a peaceful conclusion, is a defeat for the poet, since he
can contemplate the possibility of joy only for his friend, not for himself.
Unlike Wordsworth in the “Ode: Intimations of Immortality,” Coleridge can find
no consoling thoughts to live by or convince himself that he has gained more
than he has lost. A minority view sees evidence in stanza 7 that the poet has
rekindled an imaginative spark and that as a result, in the calm final stanza,
he is able to transcend his sense of separateness and feel compassion for
another human being.
Dejection
This poem is an expression of deep despair and dejection. The poet
mourns the loss of his poetic faculty. He looks back at his youth when he was
full of hope and vigor of life. He could write beautiful poems. But the fever
and fret of this world and his growing interest in metaphysics have declined
his poetic faculties. Now, beautiful natural objects do not inspire him.
The poem opens with a superstition. It is believed that the
appearance of the old moon in the lap of new foretells a storm. His prophecy
comes true. The storm comes but its wind fails to stir up his thoughts. He
recalls to his mind the olden days when external storm produced a storm in his
mind. His lofty thoughts acquired the shape of beautiful poems. This brings the
poet to the conclusion that nature is incapable of inspiring him. He thinks
that the source of inspiration lies within our own soul.
The poet feels dejected. He wishes to forget the gloomy thought
that he is failing as a poet. He turns his attention towards the howling wind
but finds no peace. In the midst of his despair and sleeplessness, he wishes a
sound and peaceful sleep for his beloved. He prays that his beloved may never
be as upset and dejected as he is tonight.
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