African Journal of Advanced Studies in

Humanities and Social Sciences (AJASHSS)

‫المجلة اإلفريقية للدراسات المتقدمة في العلوم اإلنسانية‬
‫واالجتماعية‬
Online-ISSN: 2957-5907
Volume 2, Issue 2, April-June 2023, Page No: 668-679
Website: https://aaasjournals.com/index.php/ajashss/index
Arab Impact factor 2022: 1.04 SJIFactor 2023: 5.58 ISI 2022-2023: 0.510

Imagination in Coleridge’s "Dejection: an Ode"

Fatima Alajily Saleh*
English Language department, Faculty of Education, Azzaytuna University, Libya
*
Corresponding author: [email protected]
Received: April 23, 2023 Accepted: June 04, 2023 Published: June 18, 2023
Abstract:
This research paper aims to analyze the role of imagination in Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem
"Dejection: an ode". The poem that demonstrates the poet’s view of the relationship between
human and Nature in an artistic way. Imagination is a prominent element in the creative poetic
process of the romantic poets in general and Coleridge in particular. It also considers the
position of dejection as a gate to the imaginative creativity. This research also emphasizes on
the great significance of nature and imagination as they are the two essential themes in
Coleridge’s works. It explains his frustration as he lacks the Muse, and how he resorts to
imagination to enable him to have it once again. The study then shows that despite the
inconsonant visions between the succession of the poet’s feeling and numbness expressed in
his poem, he succeeded to achieve the strong fusion with nature again. It finally illustrates how
the dejected Coleridge overcomes his dejection by the impact of imagination.

Keywords: Coleridge, Imagination, Nature, Depression, Joy.

‫الخيال في قصيدة الكآبة للشاعر كولردج‬

*
‫فاطمة العجيلي صالح‬
‫ ليبيا‬،‫ جامعة الزيتونة‬،‫ كلية التربية‬،‫قسم اللغة اإلنجليزية‬
:‫الملخص‬
‫ تلك القصيدة التي‬.."‫تهدف هذه الورقة البحثية إلى تحليل دور الخيال في "قصيدة الكآبة" للشاعر "صامويل تيلور كولردج‬
‫ الخيال هو الموضوع األبرز في العملية اإلبداعية‬.‫تشرح بطريقة إبداعية فكرة الشاعر حول العالقة بين اإلنسان والطبيعة‬
‫ أيضا يدرس هذا البحث بتأمل إحساس‬..‫والفن الشعري عند شعراء الحركة الرومانتيكية بصفة عامة وعند كولردج خاصة‬
‫ كما يركز هذا البحث على الطبيعة والخيال لكونهما أكثر األفكار أهمية في أعمال‬..‫الحزن كبوابة إلى اإلبداع الشعري‬
‫ وسوف توضح هذه الدراسة كيف أنه رغم تنقل الشاعر خالل قصيدته بين محاولته إلدراك ووعي ما يحدث في‬.‫كولردج‬
‫ وتثبت الدراسة‬..‫ إال أنه استطاع أن يصل إلى نقطة االتحاد الكامل مع الطبيعة‬،‫ وبين شعوره بأنه مخدر‬،‫الطبيعة من حوله‬
.‫في اآلخر تمكن كولردج من التغلب على الكآبة بقوة تأثير الخيال‬
.‫ الفرح‬،‫ الحزن‬،‫ الطبيعة‬،‫ الخيال‬،‫ كولردج‬:‫الكلمات المفتاحية‬

Introduction:
Coleridge’s ‘Dejection: An Ode’ was published in 1802. The ode’s stanzas are metred in
iambic lines stretching in length from trimeter to pentameter. ‘Ode’ as one of the main kinds
of poems is defined as a lyric poem in an elevated style and elaborate stanza pattern. The
‘Dejection’ has brought this ode into its perfect definition. From the title, the reader can

668 | African Journal of Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences (AJASHSS)
perceive that it is the emotion of grief that arouses the thoughts of this poem. The sad emotion
is more influential in creating poetry than the happy one. It is proved that dejection is a fluent
way to the poetic creativity. The ode is written in a dejected tone because Coleridge worries
that he has lost his artistic ability.
One of the reasons behind composing this poem is the poet’s distress because of his
incapability to write poesy. He feels that the poet within him is dead, so he wishes the storm to
be happening in order to shake his inspiration and stimulate it once again. At the end of the
ode, the reader may see that the storm symbolizes the ode itself. Through this poem, the poet
proves that words are still in love with him and muse doesn’t betray him.
This paper is an analytical study of Imagination and its great effect on Coleridge in writing
his ‘Dejection: An Ode’, and how he used this imagination to express creatively the relationship
between him and nature.
The purpose of this study, however, is not only to explain the Ode’s ideas based on
imagination, but also to facilitate them in a simplified approach for the reader to apprehend. As
well as to show and clarify the symbols that Coleridge used as vehicles for his ideas, then
discuss their implied meanings in a simple way. Such an approach makes this study to be
different from the previous studies about the topic under discussion.
Literature Review:
Coleridge’s ‘Dejection: An Ode’ can be read as an resounding words of his suffering from
depression when he wrote this ode. It plainly expresses Coleridge’s intellectual emotional
troubles. The poem is considered a cry of a miserable soul. It has proved itself to be among
Coleridge’s masterpieces. Actually, many critics find it the most important of his poems. Hill
(1983: 189), for example, believes that the Dejection Ode is a record of great loss and partial
restoration, that Coleridge’s final recovery is only timid, limited, and temporary. However, his
final emotional-psychological state is undeniably more relieved than his state earlier.
Holman and Harmon (1992: 329) think that ‘‘Dejection: An Ode’’ is a remarkable document
for reading Coleridge from a psychiatric point of view. It vividly depicts the symptoms of major
depression that he has suffering from, and it further depicts him breaking the vicious cycle of
clinical depression through a cognitive, behavioural and interpersonal act.
The role of imagination in Coleridge’s poetry had been discussed by almost all the critics
who viewed the Ode and perceived it. M. H. Abrams (1958: 68) sees that Coleridge gives two
reasons for the diminution of his imagination. The first is the so many ‘afflictions’ that he has
been through. These have not only deprived him of his ‘mirth’, but also, and more importantly
to him, suspended his ‘shaping spirit of Imagination’. The second reason is his abstruse
research into philosophy, theology and metaphysic, which has influenced on his poetic talent.
Barth (1988: 98-99) asserts that, with the aid of his re-activated imagination, Coleridge
hears that inner sound that wafts his spirit above apathy, ennui and imaginative paralysis away
from his self-obsessed confinement.
Beer (1959: 90) claims that Coleridge’s lamented dejection is gradually overcome through
the poem by virtue of his revived power of ‘Joy’. This dejection changed into graceful
selflessness, whereby Coleridge manages to become one more time awake to love and beauty.
M. H. Abrams (1957: 39) shows (through the examination of such natural symbols as
Coleridge’s wind) how metaphors of the wind are not only a stimulating aspect of the
landscape, but also an outer correspondent, a vehicle for radical change in the poet’s mind.

669 | African Journal of Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences (AJASHSS)
 In corresponding with the complementary connection between Coleridge’s inner voice and
the sound of the wind, Muhammad (2017) states that the Ode brings into play reciprocity
between Coleridge’s inner light and the natural lights beyond. Due to the darkness of his grief,
he fails to respond emotionally to the moon light. Although he is actually still capable of
perceiving the beauty of natural objects, he complains that he fails to respond to them feelingly.
A number of critics have found the end of ‘Dejection: An Ode’ a fully victorious one. J. R.
de J. Jackson (1980: 960), for one, calm even hymn-like in its final lines, and we are made to
feel that the fit of despondency, like the storm, has passed.
E. Kessler (1979: 13-14) finds that what Coleridge himself undergoes in the conclusion is
projected onto another person who stands for Coleridge’s ulterior conscience, in the instance
his Lady, for whom his wish is, at the moment, true of himself.
Thus, most of the previous studies focused on the power of Imagination and its impact upon
the romantic Coleridge. They also concentrated on how the poet expresses his philosophical
views about the relationship between human and nature.
The Analysis:
The poet expresses his dejection illustrating that he is hopeless, frustrated, and feels as if he
were numb. When a human is in such a mood, he loses the passion of life, and the world seems
narrow, vacant, and colourless. Coleridge here resorts to the power of imagination in order to
make life looks bright and meaningful.

As a romantic poet, Coleridge spends a long time meditating the night, wandering whether
this peaceful quiet evening will pass without being troubled by the rough winds. He thinks that
all the pleased moments are threatened by the upset ones. The happiness passes as a vision for
a while then it fades away behind the distress for a time.

The poet of ‘Dejection an Ode’ uses natural images frequently; in the first stanza, for
instance, the view of the moon predicts a coming storm "For lo! the New-moon winter-bright!".
The poet is waiting for the eruption of the tempest hoping that the fierce of the roar might shake
his soul, quiver his numbness, and evoke his emotions and interactions.

Moon can be portrayed as a symbol of the road; Coleridge here gazes at the moon asking
her to guide him to a soothing way that could enable him to get rid of the weariness. The
terrifying sound of the rough winds and raindrops that fall heavily awakened the still pain in
his spirit and aroused the emotions of fair and sorrow.

Moreover, the mood of fear and sorrow is extended to stanza Two. The poet asserts that he
is suffering from a grief; it is a sort of grief in which no help "finds no natural outlet, no relief".
It is empty, dusky and dull pain. It is a heavy type of grief that does not enable him to enjoy
nature. He describes it as a "drowsy unimpassioned grief". When the despair seeps into the
depth, the human feels as if he were lumpish.

The evening is peaceable and sweet, but the poet is in a lifeless mood. He feels sad that he
couldn’t get along with nature’s temper. He gazes at the motion of the clouds and the brilliance
of the stars. When they are hidden by the clouds, their shinning becomes dim, and when they
appear, they look bright. The shine of the stars behind the clouds in that pleased night
represents the shine of hope behind his dark mood.

670 | African Journal of Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences (AJASHSS)
 "I see, not feel how beautiful they are", addressing the lady, Coleridge proclaims that he
is incapacitated, and all what he can do is just to hear to the birds musical voice, and consider
the yellow-green heaven "the western sky / And its peculiar tint of yellow green". Coleridge
here describes the blue sky as green-yellow; for the green colour in nature symbolizes renewal,
rebirth and resurrection. As well as, the yellow colour –in many cultures- symbolizes brilliance
or delight. This refers to the poet’s hope for renewing his dead passion and retrieving his lost
pleasure.

The poet here proves that he can see the sky, the clouds and the moon, but he can’t feel their
beauty. Despair and depression made him numbing. He feels sad for the gap between him and
nature; that he can’t perceive, taste or touch the charm of nature as before.

In stanza three, Coleridge is still looking for his lost happiness. He claims that my joyful
spirits keep falling. He asks If there is anything to help him to lift his genial mettle once again.
Also, he wonders what can take the heavy burden out of his head. Then he answers himself:
nothing! ‘It was a vain endeavour’. Even the attractive natural objects that he loves can’t attract
him anymore. Nothing can aid him to forget his troubles. He just keeps gazing at the green sky,
but it would be fruitless attempt to cure the wounds or reduce the stress.

Furthermore, the poet stares and stares in vain. Then he concludes that the true effect comes
from the heart which is the real source of interest and pleasure. When the internal cause is
absent, no external object can support him; he needs an inner guide. The outside factors would
never lead him to the happiness. It is something that formed inside; the essence of change is
made in the heart. And obstacles are also inside.

In addition, Coleridge in stanza four, is still addressing the lady claiming that "we receive
but what we give". He asserts that we receive from the outside world just what we have sent to
it. What we gain is obtained from our hearts; nature becomes full of life when our hearts are
full of ecstasy. It is our mood that impacts on nature, not the opposite. The poet here believes
that nature can’t make us glad or sad, but our hearts can do. However, nobody can deny the
effect of nature.

Similarly, to recognize the outside light, the human must take its origin from the soul herself
"from the soul itself must issue forth". Nature’s tender splendour is seen by the inner eye. For
this beauty is not gifted for those who lack love and beauty in themselves, "To the poor loveless
ever-anxious crowd".

In stanza five, Coleridge continuous talking to the lady "O pure of heart" declaring that you
don’t need to ask me what is that strong voice in the soul? It is Joy which is endowed to us by
Nature. Joy is the source of life’s relief, and the essence of human’s comfort. It is the main
reason behind spirit’s sweet music and light. Joy can release the spirit from her sorrow, "Joy,
Lady! is the spirit and the power".

Moreover, it is not an ordinary joy; it is a distinctive kind of joy. The pure joy felt by the
pure people who live their pure life. The bliss of nature welcomes only those whose hearts are
still full of purity. It is the joy that enables humans to feel a new sense of "new earth and new
heaven". All the bright light that hearts feel and all the lovely voice that souls produce are
caused by joy.

671 | African Journal of Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences (AJASHSS)
 Then the poet metaphorically portrays joy as life through the use of clouds, "Joy the
luminous cloud", as the rainy clouds are the primary source of life. Besides, the poet here
capitalized Joy to confirm that she is great.

Subsequently, in stanza six, Coleridge states that even when my way was full of obstacles
and difficulties, there was time for imagining happiness. There was time for hope during the
miserable moments "Whence Fancy made me dreams of happiness". It is his heart’s joy that
enables him to lighten his gloom paths. Even his misfortunes could avail him since they work
as an evoke for his imagination to portray images of pleasure in his mind.

Moreover, the poet assures that there was time for hope to grow around him like a twin of
thick fruity trees. "hope grew round me, like the twining vine and fruits". Using this simile,
the poet proves that hope can grow and increase just as plants do.

However, now he is no longer able to bear the thorns of reality. The burdens of life overcome
him and press him down, "bow me down to earth". He falls down from the sky of hope to the
ground of despair. He is frustrated that suffering deprives him of his joy.

Furthermore, what makes him feel sad deep down is that he is lost and depressed; he
becomes unable anymore to take care of anything. That is a deep sense of woe. Now he does
not mind nature and the pleasure she endowed to him "Nor care I that they rob me of my mirth".
And this carelessness worried him entirely.

Every time he faces these miserable feelings "each visitation", they obstruct nature to give
him the spirits of Imagination. The use of the capital letter here refers to the great value of
Imagination for Coleridge as a Romantic poet.

Likewise, the image that portrays the analogy between the poet and vegetation is extended
here; the plants and flowers that were full of life. Now they are withered and curved to earth.
Equally, the poet felt down to earth because of the heavy burden upon his back.

Then the poet proclaims that all what I can do now is to be silent and patient under the
impact of depression. And just to think how to use my poetic creativity of imagination to work
on my emotions and express them in a poetic way.

Coleridge wishes to be able to express his thoughts now after the intensity of the difficulties
that influenced on him and ceased him to be in touch with the nature’s pleasure. He misses his
former self, and hopefully seeks to rescue it.

Moreover, the poet at the beginning of stanza seven talks about his poisonous thoughts that
coil his mind about the wicked dream of reality "Reality's dark dream! / I turn from you, and
listen to the wind". The poet then turns away from "you"–the lady he was addressing- and
listens to the wind that moves violently without taking the attention of the poet.

Thereafter, he speaks to the wind herself asking her about the great cry of pain caused by
life’s distress of the lute that extends out. This sound of agony is spread out and heard clearly
now. This cry resembles that one of human being who is suffering from misery.

The personified wind is claimed here; O wind, instead of blowing here violently and
terrifying me, it is much better to blow over a mountain’s peak, or a blasted tree, or a far place

672 | African Journal of Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences (AJASHSS)
which no man would arrive to. Or an abandoned house that has been dwelled only by wicked
spirits. The imagery here denotes to the loneliness of the poet’s imagination.

O wind, you are a wild musical instrument playing upon the lute. The voice that you are
producing is tougher than that which is heard through the dreary months of winter. O crazy lute
player "Mad Lutanist! who in this month of showers / Of dark-brown gardens, and of peeping
flowers". You play on storms making the gardens look dark and the flowers glancing fairly
behind the leaves.

Continuously, Coleridge is still addressing the wind proclaiming that you are an actor who
performs the role of misery in the depressed nights "Thou Actor, perfect in all tragic sounds".
You can produce the sounds of agony and suffering. You are like the influential poet who
reveals the voice of anger and change.

Then the poet goes further to describe the voice of the wind saying that the sounds you are
making are similar to those made by the frightened flight of an overcome army, with shouts of
woe of the crushed men, squeaking in pain and shaking with cold.

However, now there is a fatal pause of that loud voice; there is a break of the deepest silence
"But hush! there is a pause of deepest silence!". All that noise which is similar to the crushed
army with the cries of the compressed militaries has ended.

Now the wind creates different tales which are less deed, lower voice, and with a less impact
of terror, and more delightful, as if it were written by Otway himself. (Thomas Otway) is a 17th
century English poet and dramatist. That tragic tale is about a little child who gets lost lonely
in the wilds not far from home.

The wind now produces a sound of grief and fear which is like the sound of that child who
shouts loudly hoping that her mother would hear her. The author proves that this wind is a
violent scary might!

In stanza eight the poet ends explaining about the wind and talks about himself. He claims
that it is midnight, but I have no thought of sleeping. He wishes that his friend does not face
the same sleeplessness. Besides, the personified sleep here is demanded to visit her, to make
her forget her troubles. He also wishes that the storm that he was describing to take only a brief
duration.

The poet then hopes that all the stars shine above her home; shine quietly as they watch and
guard the personified sleeping earth. Coleridge, as well as, declares that he wishes for his friend
to get up with a carefree heart, bright spirit and lustrous eyes. "Joy lift her spirit, joy attune her
voice", he implores joy to embrace her soul and please her voice.

Additionally, Coleridge wants that all the living things in the world are offered with the
purpose of satisfying her. She is the honest friend of his choice. He wishes her to be protected
from above. Although he is in deep melancholy, he still wishes her happiness forever.

Conclusion:
"Dejection: an Ode" is an English romantic poem expresses Coleridge’s meditation of
imagination, depression and joy. The poem shows the deep sense of Dejection as a result of the
poet’s incapacity to create poesy or to enjoy nature. This faded creativeness makes him to resort

673 | African Journal of Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences (AJASHSS)
to the power of nature in order to evoke his sleepy inspiration and to renew his lost passion for
poetic writings.

At the beginning of the poem, the poet illuminates his melancholy, loneliness and
disappointment. As well as he considers the natural objects consulting them to supply him with
an outlet. The moon in the first stanza directs him to a peaceful way to get rid of tiredness.
Besides, he considers the rough wind and the heavy storm as a means to shake his dead thoughts
and drowsy mood.

Similarly, Coleridge continues contemplating the sky searching for a hope, then he catches
that the real change is revealed from inside; from the heart which is the main origin of joy.
Hope is formed in one’s inner sense. The author proclaims that ‘‘we receive what we give’’,
the heart’s pure light is reflected on the objects that surround us then it returns brilliantly back
to the heart himself. The poet assures that it is his heart’s joy that aids him to shine his darkness.

However, the poet can’t stay long in the bliss of the imaginative world. He is obliged to
come back to the real one occasionally. He has to face the tough reality. The weights of life
press him down to earth. So, he seeks to soar away to the ideal imaginative world through such
a friendship with the tender natural objects.

This paper illustrates Coleridge’s merging of the themes of Imagination and Nature as they
are the two primary ideas in the period of Romantic Movement. In this golden age of Poetry,
nature and imagination are the principal motivations of the poetic inspiration, creativity and
beauty. The romantic poets’ intense love and care towards these two concepts has created
immortal poets. The remarkable effect of Imagination and the great power of Nature play a
vital role in writing ‘‘Dejection: An Ode’’ in this attractive way.

Some notes concerning the topic.

- The role of Imagination:
Coleridge emphasizes on imagination as a lively factor in the romantic poetry. According
to romanticism period, imagination is an active effective power that impacts evidently on the
creative poetic process. Romantic poets believe that the imaginative world is important for
humans’ understanding of the real one. Imagination is a helpful way to see life with a different
eye. As well as, the healing power of imagination is primarily emphasized in Coleridge’s
poetry. It helps the poet to recapture his creativeness and then recapture his contact with nature.

- The significance of Nature:

Besides imagination, nature has the same care in Coleridge’s works. According to him, she
is the most sublime entity. The poet uses her as a force to strike his dull mind. The natural
symbols in the dejected ode show the poet’s belief in the impact of nature. The natural objects
help Coleridge to scatter his thoughts.
- The reason of Dejection:
The main reasons behind the poet’s dejection here are his incapacity to write poetry and his
feeling about the gap between him and nature.

- The change of mood by the end of the ode:

The poem is written in the mood of grief, however, at the end the reader will notice a change
in the mood. The poet becomes more hopeful and more joyful . His ability to write and his
tender friendship with nature are the motives behind that change.

674 | African Journal of Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences (AJASHSS)
References:
1. Abrams, M. H. (1957) The Correspondent Breeze: A Romantic Metaphor. In M. H.
Abrams (ed.). English Romantic Poets. London: OUP, 1960. Pp. 37-54.
2. Abrams, M.H. (1958) The Mirror and The Lamb: Romantic Theory and the Critical
Tradition. New York. Norton.
3. Barth, J.R. (1988). Coleridge and the Power of Love. University of Missouri Press.
4. Beer, J. B. (1959) Coleridge the Visionary. London: Chatto & Windus.
5. Harmon, W. & Holman, C.H. (1992). A Handbook to Literature. (p.329). Upper Saddle
River, NJ: prentice Hall.
6. Hill, J.S. (1983). Dejection: An Ode. In A Coleridge’s Companion (pp.169-205)
Palgrave Macmillan, London.
7. Jackson, R.J. de J. (1980) Poetry of the Romantic Period. London: Routledge & Kegan
Paul.
8. Kessler, E. (2015). Coleridge’s Metaphors of Being. (Vol. 1425). Princeto University
Press.
9. Muhammad. B. Q. (2017). The Dejection Ode: Clinical Depression & the sound-light
struggle. Journal of Surra Man Raa.

675 | African Journal of Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences (AJASHSS)
 Appendix: (Dejection: An Ode)

I
Well! If the Bard was weather-wise, who made
The grand old ballad of Sir Patrick Spence,
This night, so tranquil now, will not go hence
Unroused by winds, that ply a busier trade
Than those which mould yon cloud in lazy flakes,
Or the dull sobbing draft, that moans and rakes
Upon the strings of this Æolian lute,
Which better far were mute.
For lo! the New-moon winter-bright!
And overspread with phantom light,
(With swimming phantom light o'erspread
But rimmed and circled by a silver thread)
I see the old Moon in her lap, foretelling
The coming-on of rain and squally blast.
And oh! that even now the gust was swelling,
And the slant night-shower driving loud and fast!
Those sounds which oft have raised me, whilst they awed,
And sent my soul abroad,
Might now perhaps their wonted impulse give,
Might startle this dull pain, and make it move and live!

II
A grief without a pang, void, dark, and drear,
A stifled, drowsy, unimpassioned grief,
Which finds no natural outlet, no relief,
In word, or sigh, or tear—
O Lady! in this wan and heartless mood,
To other thoughts by yonder throstle woo'd,
All this long eve, so balmy and serene,
Have I been gazing on the western sky,
And its peculiar tint of yellow green:
And still I gaze—and with how blank an eye!
And those thin clouds above, in flakes and bars,
That give away their motion to the stars;
Those stars, that glide behind them or between,
Now sparkling, now bedimmed, but always seen:
Yon crescent Moon, as fixed as if it grew
In its own cloudless, starless lake of blue;
I see them all so excellently fair,
I see, not feel, how beautiful they are!

III
My genial spirits fail;
And what can these avail
To lift the smothering weight from off my breast?
It were a vain endeavour,
Though I should gaze for ever

676 | African Journal of Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences (AJASHSS)
 On that green light that lingers in the west:
I may not hope from outward forms to win
The passion and the life, whose fountains are within.

IV
O Lady! we receive but what we give,
And in our life alone does Nature live:
Ours is her wedding garment, ours her shroud!
And would we aught behold, of higher worth,
Than that inanimate cold world allowed
To the poor loveless ever-anxious crowd,
Ah! from the soul itself must issue forth
A light, a glory, a fair luminous cloud
Enveloping the Earth—
And from the soul itself must there be sent
A sweet and potent voice, of its own birth,
Of all sweet sounds the life and element!

V
O pure of heart! thou need'st not ask of me
What this strong music in the soul may be!
What, and wherein it doth exist,
This light, this glory, this fair luminous mist,
This beautiful and beauty-making power.
Joy, virtuous Lady! Joy that ne'er was given,
Save to the pure, and in their purest hour,
Life, and Life's effluence, cloud at once and shower,
Joy, Lady! is the spirit and the power,
Which wedding Nature to us gives in dower
A new Earth and new Heaven,
Undreamt of by the sensual and the proud—
Joy is the sweet voice, Joy the luminous cloud—
We in ourselves rejoice!
And thence flows all that charms or ear or sight,
All melodies the echoes of that voice,
All colours a suffusion from that light.

VI
There was a time when, though my path was rough,
This joy within me dallied with distress,
And all misfortunes were but as the stuff
Whence Fancy made me dreams of happiness:
For hope grew round me, like the twining vine,
And fruits, and foliage, not my own, seemed mine.
But now afflictions bow me down to earth:
Nor care I that they rob me of my mirth;
But oh! each visitation
Suspends what nature gave me at my birth,
My shaping spirit of Imagination.
For not to think of what I needs must feel,

677 | African Journal of Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences (AJASHSS)
 But to be still and patient, all I can;
And haply by abstruse research to steal
From my own nature all the natural man—
This was my sole resource, my only plan:
Till that which suits a part infects the whole,
And now is almost grown the habit of my soul.

VII
Hence, viper thoughts, that coil around my mind,
Reality's dark dream!
I turn from you, and listen to the wind,
Which long has raved unnoticed. What a scream
Of agony by torture lengthened out
That lute sent forth! Thou Wind, that rav'st without,
Bare crag, or mountain-tairn, or blasted tree,
Or pine-grove whither woodman never clomb,
Or lonely house, long held the witches' home,
Methinks were fitter instruments for thee,
Mad Lutanist! who in this month of showers,
Of dark-brown gardens, and of peeping flowers,
Mak'st Devils' yule, with worse than wintry song,
The blossoms, buds, and timorous leaves among.
Thou Actor, perfect in all tragic sounds!
Thou mighty Poet, e'en to frenzy bold!
What tell'st thou now about?
'Tis of the rushing of an host in rout,
With groans, of trampled men, with smarting wounds—
At once they groan with pain, and shudder with the cold!
But hush! there is a pause of deepest silence!
And all that noise, as of a rushing crowd,
With groans, and tremulous shudderings—all is over—
It tells another tale, with sounds less deep and loud!
A tale of less affright,
And tempered with delight,
As Otway's self had framed the tender lay,—
'Tis of a little child
Upon a lonesome wild,
Nor far from home, but she hath lost her way:
And now moans low in bitter grief and fear,
And now screams loud, and hopes to make her mother hear.

VIII
'Tis midnight, but small thoughts have I of sleep:
Full seldom may my friend such vigils keep!
Visit her, gentle Sleep! with wings of healing,
And may this storm be but a mountain-birth,
May all the stars hang bright above her dwelling,
Silent as though they watched the sleeping Earth!
With light heart may she rise,
Gay fancy, cheerful eyes,

678 | African Journal of Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences (AJASHSS)
 Joy lift her spirit, joy attune her voice;
To her may all things live, from pole to pole,
Their life the eddying of her living soul!
O simple spirit, guided from above,
Dear Lady! friend devoutest of my choice,
Thus mayest thou ever, evermore rejoice.

679 | African Journal of Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences (AJASHSS)