Poem Review: ‘Dejection: An Ode’ by Samuel Taylor Coleridge - “Sadder Lines Than These Were Never Perhaps Written by Any Poet in the Description of His Own Feelings.”

Image Credit: English Literature

“This night, so tranquil now, will not go hence.”

-Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Dejection: An Ode

Introduction

Originally published - 4 October 1802

Title - Dejection: an Ode 

Author - Samuel Taylor Coleridge

“I may not hope from outward forms to win

The passion and the life, whose fountains are within.”

-Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Dejection: An Ode

Review in Phrase: A Poem for the heart!

When you think you're on the verge of disaster,  heading towards doomsday, when you're flooded with 'why s' and 'why not s' that magnify your dismay, poetry provides a way to shatter the chaos scuffling inside. It gives you the confidence to be comfortable in your own skin.

So on the surface, this art promises to be a remnant of an unattainable affection and love. But at the other edge, “Dejection” can be interpreted as a record of Coleridge's artistic crisis.

The poem, in this opinion, is ultimately a testament to the importance of creativity in Romantic thought and philosophy. It focuses on the theme that perception is everything, and imagination brings life to external scenarios and objects.

Coleridge attempts, in the depths of despair, to stimulate his creativity and visionary forces by outer encounters of nature in “Dejection,” but he fails. He knows that meaning is only assigned to an otherwise neutral stimulus in his mind; external perceptions are meaningless without internal attribution of meaning.

Glimpse into the poem

Coleridge's poem "Dejection: An Ode" was initially written as a poem about the poet's depression. The work is more than a poem; it is a reflection of the poet, who was known for both his rise and fall.

“Dejection” is thought to be the product of Coleridge's depression as a result of his unhappy marriage and futile love for Sara Hutchinson; after all, the poem was first written as a letter to his beloved.

Image Credit: Quotes Lyfe

0 Lady! we receive but what we give,

And in our life alone does Nature live:

Ours is her wedding garment, ours her shroud!

The poem begins with a four-line quote from Thomos Percy's "Ballad of Sir Patrick Spence," which was first published in 1765 in his "Reliques of Ancient English Poetry." In the lines quoted by Coleridge, the speaker states that he has seen the old Moon carrying the new Moon in her arms and that he is terrified. He is concerned that a deadly storm will ensue. These unusual forebodings occur naturally.

The significance of these lines is that Coleridge wishes for such a storm to strike his life in order to awaken him from his spiritual slumber. The poet's slumber is painful because it robs him of his love of life and nature, as well as his ability to compose poetry.

‘Dejection: an ode' is indeed a poem written to a ‘Lady.' The name of this Lady is unknown, but it was most likely Sara Hutchinson. Coleridge, however, gave the impression that the poem was addressed to him in a letter to his friend Poole. He later revealed to a few people that it was addressed to Wordsworth.

The poem is a form of confession about the poet himself. A sinner confesses to a holy priest, a guilty person confesses to one who is pure of heart, and a sad man confesses to one who is full of joy.

It doesn't matter if it's addressed to Sara, Poole, or Wordsworth; what counts is that it's a despondent Coleridge confessing his shortcomings to someone who is enviably joyous.

Critical Appreciation of the Poem

It is an intensely personal and autobiographical poetry that reflects the poet's current mental state. It documents a significant change in his life and laments the fading of his creative imagination. 

“the poet’s dirge of infinite pathos over the grave of creative imagination,

Sadder lines than these were never perhaps written by any poet in the description of his own feelings.”

The imagery in the ode is highly vivid and concrete. Particularly forceful and vigorous are the lines in which the storm's sounds are compared first to the rushing of a beaten army, then to the groaning of crushed and injured warriors, and finally to the alternate groaning and wailing of a terrified child who has lost its way home:

“What tell’ st thou now about?

‘Tis of the rushing of a host in rout,

With groans of trampled men, with smarting

…………

And now screams loud, and hopes to make her mother hear.”

This Romantic motif can be found throughout the entire work. Coleridge's "Dejection: An Ode" attests to the poet's despair, its central role in attributing meaning to external perceptions, the interplay of conscious and unconscious experiences, and the indications of empathy in the poem's ultimate strophe.

Note of Tenderness

Image Credit: Amazon

The poet concludes on a tone of tenderness for his wife. He prays to sleep to meet his beloved. May she awake with a light heart, a merry fancy, and bright and cheerful eyes! These are the only lines that help to lighten the overall sadness of the poem.

The 'moral' is implied in 'Dejection.' Since joy redeems, one must strive to conquer grief and be joyful.

The Bottom Line

Above everything, poetry sets you free. Heck, it even knows how to let you be.

This poem is what I now consider to be my favourite poem of all time. One gets a very ruminative and intimate reflection on how our state of mind influences our surroundings, and where love is rooted within an individual.

So dear readers, give this beauty a read and you’ll find yourselves entirely universal in the poem's sentiment.

My ratings for the poem - 3.5 on 5

Read the poem online - Dejection: an Ode

Get your copy of  poems from Amazon - Dejection: an Ode 

Written By - Prakriti Chaudhary