Poetic form and language in 'The Pains of Sleep' by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

The Pains of Sleep is written in the depression soul establish tense from the confidential information of view of an un-named narrator; which whitethorn (or whitethorn not) be the author. However, the nightmargons and quiescence disruption described in the metrical composition are symptomatic of withdrawal from opiate addiction, an affliction from which Coleridge was kn slip away to suffer, and it is responsible to assume that it is the poet who speaks in this rime. The role of a maiden person fork out narrative gives this rime an intimate, near conversational sprightliness and eachows the indorser to feel as though they are fetching popitioning in a dialog with the poet. The version of the poem studied (see p 227-8, Owens and Johnson) strikes no verses, however, in that respect are hap turns of thought after lines 13 and 36 and--for the purpose of this essay--I will use these turns as convenient stanza breaks . The poem is written, predominantly, in iamb ic tetrameter of twain stresses per foot and four feet per line. This tends to call in natural reference and strengthens the impression of conversation between intimates. The first stanza comprises iii rime play offts, a tercet and 2 further create verbally yokes. These total the rhyme shunning aabbccdedeeff.. Lines 7 and 9 break the oscillation as they contain nine stresses and thus provoke hypermetrical, feminine endings which allow the poets thoughts to fertilize smoothly. These lines also contain the rhyming phrases reverential resignation and sense of supplication which draws direction to the poets quasi- phantasmal cognize with cessation prior to the onslaught of his dose induced nightmares. The poet draws us in to the poem slowly and respectfully, pointing come forward that up until the previous night It hath not been my use to tap. He confesses that, patronage his perceived weaknesses, he feels not unblest and this, together with the personificat ion of the virtues of Love, Strength and Wis! dom, would await to place that he felt the presence of something great and ripe all around him. The lines in stanza one are in the main end stopped--giving them a sense of completeness--with the exception of lines 2, 10 and 12 which run-on to the next line. The enjambment of these lines creates a life of antepast and highlights the poets horny state and low level of self esteem. This and the use of caesura in lines 4, 8, 11 and 12 turn ins the wonder the poet feels because (God) has not condemned him for his weakness. The nett gallus in this stanza closes with a half rhyme (where/are) , creating a feeling of discord and frustrating the readers expectations. This functions as a computer course from which to step from the tranquillity of the first phase of the poem into the horridness of the next phase. In the second stanza the pace of the poem quickens, emulating the fast existing and feverish imaginings of a fear induced state, as the poet describes aspiration battles with his demons. There are more run-on lines in this stanza (lines 14, 16, 21, 23, 28, 31, 33 and 35), each emphasising the poets confusion as he struggles with the grand images and ideas his imagines fool conjured. The rhyme scheme follows the path ababcccddeeffghghiikkll. The first (line 14) highlights the torture that drives him to pray aloud for the first time, while the second (line 16) draws attending to the fiendish crowd of infatuated imaginings that devastate his eternal rest pattern. The inversion of the words (up-starting) at the ancestor of line 16 also hints at the unkn direct nature of the nameless fears that assail him. The initial rhyme of thoughts that tortured is rapid and stuttering and redolent(p) of the poet turning to find something that isnt there. The first four lines of the stanza form an abab quatrain and extract us into the poets nightmares. Line 18 begins a tercet whose alliteration of lurid light and trampling throng and ass onance of o vowel sound sounds suggests surreal, nigh! tmarish landscapes full of somatic wrongs once against which the poet is powerless (line 21) and the caesura in Fantastic passions! Maddening feud! (line 25) further highlights the uncertainty with which he views these images. Lines 27-30 take the form of an abab quatrain. Whether these wrongs are done to the poet or engender been done to him (lines 28-29) is unclear but, inclined the social unrest and unjustness of the period, it is feasible that Coleridge whitethorn be expressing his suffer political sympathies unconsciously within his dreams and, although Coleridge was not present at the Peterloo Massacre (St Peters Fields, Manchester) for example, it is affirmable he feels complicit by effort of his give social precondition and previous political leanings. The alliterative (sibilant) line Life -stifling fear, soul-stifling shame (line 32) draws attention to the incarnate burden of guilt, remorse or woe he has chosen, rightly or wrongly, to take upon himself and t ag a downward shift in the pace of the narrative. The Pains of Sleep uses binary program oppositions (heaven/hell, weak/strong) to comport and shape the readers response to the poem and the poet. Coleridge is [perhaps unconsciously] inviting the reader to view him positively despite his own inner feelings of penitence. The final examination couplets of stanza 2 concern the effects the previous poor nights sleep have on the poet and both contain run on lines which sustain to slow the narrative and lessen the tension.

The pathetic fallacy of night s dismay (line 33) as it saddened and stunned the coming day(Line 34) attributes feelings to night/day which they cannot hold, heretofor e which may reflect the feelings of the poet as he wa! kes from his nightmare. The final couple again ends with a discordant half rhyme (me/calamity) and marks accomplishment to the third and final stanza. The third stanza begins with triplet rhyming couplets, followed by a quatrain and three further couplets. The first couplet virtually repeats the metaphor of fiendish crowd found in stanza two (line 16), alluding this time to the dream the poet awakens from on the third night. This dream leaves him cry as I had been a child and calls to mind an vision of a objet dart broken by his experiences. The use of this simile at this point also evokes the idea of re-birth and regeneration as the poet assumes a milder mood. in one case again, Coleridge uses alliteration to draw attention to the phrases sufferings strange and milder mood and, in particular, the word show inversion of sufferings strange highlights the torments these dreams have focussed on the poet. The words deepliest (line 44) and entempesting (line 45) appear to b e portmanteau words and a product of the poets own imagination, yet they have the effect of raising the importance of Coleridges own remorse and unclear conscience. However, the lighter tone and more lock pace of this stanza also suggest that he feels that his nightmares are, perhaps, disproportionate to his part in the wrongdoing. Coleridge doubly protests his innocence in his lament but accordingly, consequently fall on me (line 50) and this repetition suggests that he does not genuinely feel that he is innocent of blame. The final couplet of stanza three is a transcendent and poignant plea from the heart as the poet claims--in the romantic tradition--that love will absolve him of his sins, real and imagined. Images of sleep/bed are also found within the poem and are often symbolic of death and oblivion. These images, when coupled with the phantasmal and supernatural imagery may also represent the quasi-death of the universal drug taker. Bibliography: 1.    Â Â Â Â Â Â Owens, W. R. and Johnson, Hamish (Ed.), ! 1998, Romantic Writings: An Anthology, Open University, Milton Keynes. 2.         Bygrave, Stephen. (ed.), 1996, Romantic Writings, Routledge (Open University), London. 3.          detonator of Alabama et al, 2000, Ways of Reading: 2nd Ed, Routledge, London. 4.         Thorne. S., 1997, Mastering ripe slope Language, Macmillan, Hong Kong. 5.         Cuddon, J. A. (Ed.), 1999, Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary possibleness (4th Edition), Penguin Reference, London. If you pauperization to get a full essay, order it on our website: OrderEssay.net

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