Coleridge's “Frost at Midnight” expresses great joy in the education which the speaker’s child will receive as compared to the education he himself had. While the speaker was raised in a city where he “saw naught lovely but the sky and stars,” and was "Awed by the stern preceptor's face," the child will experience an education filled with the joys of nature. He exclaims, “thou shalt learn far other lore,/And in far other scenes!” An education surrounded by nature, he says, is inherently one which brings one closer to God. It is an education conducted by God, the "Great universal Teacher," who teaches an “eternal language” found only in nature. In the speaker’s education, God is only present in the ringing church bells. However, in his child’s education, God will be manifest in all things, and that education will therefore be much more enriching.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
The Education of Little Coleridge
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I definitely saw how Coleridge places an emphasis on the presence of God in all of nature. Its seems like the speaker thoroughly understands the positive and peaceful influence nature has on the mind and therefore, is consciously choosing his son to grow up in a greener setting. He places little emphasis on formal teaching and great focus on the solitude of the individual to wander and understand himself through God as God is the "Great Universal Teacher."
ReplyDeleteI really liked your church bell connection with "God as a teacher," I didn't pick up on that! I think Coleridge definitely explores his interest in God and the spiritual in his poems that we've read. It definitely played a big part in "The Eolian Harp." In "Frost at Midnight" he identifies God as being present through nature, but not necessarily scripture or church. That certainly resonates with his skepticism, if not outright resentment, of Christianity in "The Eolian Harp."
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