The poem
[from his play Osorio, later called Remorse] Song
(Act V, scene i)
And this place our forefathers made for man ! This is the process of our Love and Wisdom, To each poor brother who offends against us-- Most innocent, perhaps--and what if guilty ? Is this the only cure ? Merciful God ! Each pore and natural outlet shrivell'd up By Ignorance and parching Poverty, His energies roll back upon his heart, And stagnate and corrupt ; till chang'd to poison, They break out on him, like a loathsome plague-spot ; Then we call in our pamper'd mountebanks-- And this is their best cure ! uncomforted And friendless Solitude, Groaning and Tears, And savage Faces, at the clanking hour, Seen through the steams and vapour of his dungeon, By the lamp's dismal twilight ! So he lies Circled with evil, till his very soul Unmoulds its essence, hopelessly deform'd By sights of ever more deformity !
With other ministrations thou, O Nature ! Healest thy wandering and distemper'd child : Thou pourest on him thy soft influences, Thy sunny hues, fair forms, and breathing sweets, Thy melodies of woods, and winds, and waters, Till he relent, and can no more endure To be a jarring and a dissonant thing, Amid this general dance and minstrelsy ; But, bursting into tears, wins back his way, His angry spirit heal'd and harmoniz'd By the benignant touch of Love and Beauty.
- written in dramatic blank verse, this being the style of writing most similar to everyday speech. - this fact meant that its use (the unrhymed lines of iambic pentameter) is very common throughout the collection and the Romantic period as a whole. - this form is used to help convey the theme that the two poets were working hard to achieve: poetry can be ordinary and can be understood by ordinary people. this idea…
Read the whole comment- written in dramatic blank verse, this being the style of writing most similar to everyday speech.
- this fact meant that its use (the unrhymed lines of iambic pentameter) is very common throughout the collection and the Romantic period as a whole.
- this form is used to help convey the theme that the two poets were working hard to achieve: poetry can be ordinary and can be understood by ordinary people. this idea is then emphasised by the use of a prisoner as the main character.
- Coleridge demonstrates his view that nature has healing properties and that it would be a more effective method of rehabilitating criminals than the usual method of locking them away in prison would be - an elevated view of nature and its power.
- he justifies this opinion using glorious imagery describing nature as he sees it, with the intent of portraying its complete beauty.