The Flame and Man

“the thin blue flame

Lies on my low-burnt fire, and quivers not;

/… /

Methinks, its motion in this hush of nature

Gives it dim sympathies with me who live,

Making it a companionable form”

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In this excerpt, Coleridge denotes the relationship between the flame and the man. “Quivering not”, the flame stands firm with the man surrounded by the silence of nature, seemingly at peace. The flame embodies a simplistic, non-animate entity that is contrasted by man who is complex and empowered. I, once again, connect the dichotomous association of man and flame to Wordsworth’s (WW) “To a Small Celandine.” WW contrasts the vain poet with the humble cottager to, in my opinion, stress the importance of nature’s simplicity and humility, not merely its beauty. In Coleridge, the flame seems to embrace such humility in taking direction from nature. “Mak[ing] a toy of thought” attacks the notion that man is inherently superior to nature because of his cognitive development. I would argue that the flame’s existence and dependence on nature are glorified over the thoughtfulness of man. Moreover, being “companionable” with man equalizes the two entities such that they are both dependent on nature. As such, we are left, based on these lines, with the feeling that if the flame and man are both companions in life, and the flame is at the discretion of nature, then so to is man. Thought is but a toy with which we play, but do not act as nature the grand puppeteer.