Easter Holidays

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"Easter Holidays" is a poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, which he wrote at age fifteen in 1787. It is one of his earliest known poems and was included in a letter to his brother Luke. The poem describes the joy of Easter but also warns of possible future sorrows after one loses his innocence. The poem concludes with a Neoplatonic emphasis of virtue being able to conquer suffering.

Contents

Background

"Easter Holidays", along with "Dura Navis" and "Nil Pejus est Caelibe Vita", is one of Coleridge's earliest known poems. [1] The poem was written in 1787 while Coleridge attended Christ's Hospital, London. During his school days, he was a lonely child and was unable to spend holidays with family like other boys at the school. This loneliness was broken with the arrival of his brothers George and Luke in 1785, but returned when Luke moved to Devon. In a letter to Luke on 12 May 1787, he expressed his feelings of loneliness. Included in the letter was his poem, "Easter Holidays", which seeks to celebrate Easter. This was the first time Coleridge included a poem with one of his letters. [2]

Poem

Coleridge begins his poem with a standard invocation of the muse: [3]

Hail! festal Easter that dost bring
Approach of sweetly-smiling spring,
  When Nature's clad in green: [4]

— lines 1–3

The poem then describes the festivities of Easter and the joy that comes with it: [5]

  All sing the festive lay.

With mirthful dance they beat the ground,
Their shouts of joy the hills resound
  And catch the jocund noise: [4]

— lines 12-15

This transitions into a comparison between present happiness and future pain: [5]

Without a tear, without a sigh
Their moments all in transports fly
  Till evening ends their joys.

But little think their joyous hearts
Of dire Misfortune's varied smarts
  Which youthful years conceal:
Thoughtless of bitter-smiling Woe
Which all mankind are born to know
  And they themselves must feel. [4]

— lines 16–24

The suffering comes from the youths' fall from innocence, but their innocence is also what kept them from knowing that they will suffer. However, the poem ends with a message of hope: [6]

While steady Virtue guides his mind
Heav'n–born Content he still shall find
  That never sheds a tear:
Without respect to any tide
His hours away in bliss shall glide
  Like Easter all the year. [4]

— lines 31–36

Themes

The themes of the poem were influenced by John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon who wrote the Cato's Letters , a series of letters on religion, sin, and suffering under the pseudonym Cato. They promoted the belief that suffering originated in vice, and that man is ever subject to passions that cannot be controlled. This is connected to Coleridge experiencing both suffering and guilt over what he described later as his loss of innocence. In "Easter Holidays", Coleridge describes the time of innocence as in the past although others that he attends school with are still joyful and innocent. [7]

However, discussion of beauty within "Easter Holiday", along with the hopeful conclusion of the poem, reveals a further influence by Neoplatonistic works, especially Plotinus's Enneads . Of Plotinus in particular, Coleridge derived his understanding of wisdom as the soul being awakened to the knowledge of God and truth. As such, Coleridge responds to the ideas of Trenchard and Gordon with a view that those who are virtuous are unaffected by suffering. Instead, only those who are vicious in nature really suffer and that people are able to conquer their fallen state. [8]

Sources

The work is traditional and hearkens back to classical poetry. Coleridge studied Horace at Christ's Hospital, and his 13th line shows this influence: "With mirthful dance they beat the ground". [9] This influence was common to his other earlier works. [10] Use of the invocation "Hail!" was common during the 18th century and is connected to the epic tradition. It's predominant purpose was to address divinity of some form. [3] His sources, including Plotinus and the Cato's Letters, originate in his studying metaphysics while attending Christ's Hospital. [11]

Notes

  1. ↑ Sarker p. 43
  2. ↑ Ashton 1997 pp. 22–23
  3. 1 2 Kneale p. 73
  4. 1 2 3 4 Coleridge 1921 pp. 1-2
  5. 1 2 Ashton 1997 p. 23
  6. ↑ Werkmeister 1961 pp. 109–110
  7. ↑ Werkmeister 1961 pp. 105–107
  8. ↑ Werkmeister 1961 pp. 109–111
  9. ↑ Smith p. 28
  10. ↑ Thayer 1916 p. 33
  11. ↑ Werkmeister 1961 pp. 105–111

Related Research Articles

Samuel Taylor Coleridge was born on 21 October 1772. The youngest of 14 children, he was educated after his father's death and excelled in classics. He attended Christ's Hospital and Jesus College. While attending college, he befriended two other Romanticists, Charles Lamb and Robert Southey, the latter causing him to eventually drop out of college and pursue both poetic and political ambitions.

"Dura Navis" was composed by Samuel Taylor Coleridge in 1787. It is one of his earliest known poems and was written for a school assignment while Coleridge attended Christ's Hospital. The poem describes the pain of solitude that accompanies travel and the risks that accompany a voyage at sea, including combat against others and resorting to cannibalism.

The Destruction of the Bastile was composed by Samuel Taylor Coleridge in 1789. The poem describes Coleridge's feelings of hopes for the French Revolution as a catalyst for political change.

"Pain: Composed in Sickness" is a poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. The poem marks a time in Coleridge's life in which he began to take opium.

On Receiving an Account that his only Sister's Death was Inevitable was composed by Samuel Taylor Coleridge in 1794. It was written for Coleridge's friend Charles Lamb and seeks to comfort him after his loss.

Religious Musings was composed by Samuel Taylor Coleridge in 1794 and finished by 1796. It is one of his first poems of critical merit and contains many of his early feelings about religion and politics.

The Destiny of Nations was composed by Samuel Taylor Coleridge as part of Robert Southey's Joan of Arc epic poem. The lines were later isolated from Southey's and expanded. The new poem includes Coleridge's feelings on politics, religion, and humanity's duty to helping each other.

"On Quitting School" is a sonnet written by Samuel Taylor Coleridge in 1791. It describes Coleridge's feelings of leaving school for Cambridge in an optimistic manner quite contrary to the views he expressed later in life.

Conversation poems poem

The conversation poems are a group of at least eight poems composed by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834) between 1795 and 1807. Each details a particular life experience which led to the poet's examination of nature and the role of poetry. They describe virtuous conduct and man's obligation to God, nature and society, and ask as if there is a place for simple appreciation of nature without having to actively dedicate one's life to altruism.

The Eolian Harp is a poem written by Samuel Taylor Coleridge in 1795 and published in his 1796 poetry collection. It is one of the early conversation poems and discusses Coleridge's anticipation of a marriage with Sara Fricker along with the pleasure of conjugal love. However, The Eolian Harp is not a love poem and instead focuses on man's relationship with nature. The central images of the poem is an Aeolian harp, an item that represents both order and wildness in nature. Along with the harp is a series of oppositional ideas that are reconciled with each other. The Eolian Harp also contains a discussion on "One Life", Coleridge's idea that humanity and nature are united along with his desire to try to find the divine within nature. The poem was well received for both its discussion of nature and its aesthetic qualities.

Reflections on Having Left a Place of Retirement is a poem written by English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge in 1796. Like his earlier poem The Eolian Harp, the poem discusses Coleridge's understanding of nature and his married life, which was suffering from problems that developed after the previous poem. Overall, the poem focuses on humanity's relationship with nature in its various aspects ranging from experiencing an Edenic state to having to abandon a unity with nature in order to fulfill a moral obligation to humanity. The discussion of man's obligation to each other leads into a discussion on the difference between the life of a philosopher and the life of a poet. By the end of the poem, the narrator follows the philosophical path in a manner similar to what Coleridge sought to do. The response to the poem from critics was mostly positive with many of them emphasizing the religious aspects of the poem in their analysis.

"This Lime-Tree Bower My Prison" is a poem written by Samuel Taylor Coleridge during 1797. The poem discusses a time in which Coleridge was forced to stay beneath a lime tree while his friends were able to enjoy the countryside. Within the poem, Coleridge is able to connect to his friend's experience and enjoy nature through him, which keeps the lime tree from being a mental prison, only a physical one.

Frost at Midnight is a poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, written in February 1798. Part of the conversation poems, the poem discusses Coleridge's childhood experience in a negative manner and emphasizes the need to be raised in the countryside. The poem expresses hope that Coleridge's son, Hartley, would be able to experience a childhood that his father could not and become a true "child of nature". The view of nature within the poem has a strong Christian element in that Coleridge believed that nature represents a physical presence of God's word and that the poem is steeped in Coleridge's understanding of Neoplatonism. Frost at Midnight has been well received by critics, and is seen as the best of the conversation poems.

Fears in Solitude, written in April 1798, is one of the conversation poems by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. The poem was composed while France threatened to invade Great Britain. Although Coleridge was opposed to the British government, the poem sides with the British people in a patriotic defense of their homeland. The poem also emphasizes a desire to protect one's family and to live a simple life in harmony with nature. The critical response to the poem was mixed, with some critics claiming that the work was "alarmist" and anti-British.

The Nightingale: A Conversation Poem is a poem written by Samuel Taylor Coleridge in April 1798. Originally included in the joint collection of poems called Lyrical Ballads, the poem disputes the traditional idea that nightingales are connected to the idea of melancholy. Instead, the nightingale represents to Coleridge the experience of nature. Midway through the poem, the narrator stops discussing the nightingale in order to describe a mysterious female and a gothic scene. After the narrator is returned to his original train of thought by the nightingale's song, the narrator recalls a moment when he took his crying son out to see the moon, which immediately filled the child with joy. Critics have found the poem either decent with little complaint or as one of his better poems containing beautiful lines.

"Dejection: An Ode" is a poem written by Samuel Taylor Coleridge in 1802. The poem in its original form was written to Sara Hutchinson, a woman who was not his wife, and discusses his feelings of love for her. The various versions of the poem describe Coleridge's inability to write poetry and living in a state of paralysis, but published editions remove his personal feelings and mention of Hutchinson.

To Burke

"To Burke" is a sonnet by Samuel Taylor Coleridge first published in the 9 December 1794 Morning Chronicle. Unlike most of the Sonnets on Eminent Characters, "To Burke" describes a person whom Coleridge disagreed with; he felt Edmund Burke abused the idea of freedom within various speeches and turned his back on liberty.

Hymn Before Sunrise is a poem written by Samuel Taylor Coleridge in 1802. Originally published in The Morning Post, it describes feelings that Coleridge claimed to have experienced on his own. However, it was later revealed that parts of the poem were heavily influenced by a poem by Friederike Brun, which led to criticism against Coleridge for not acknowledging his sources. Aspects of the poem did have direct origin in Coleridge's own life and experiences, and the work represents one of the last times a poem captured his feelings of joy during that period of his life.

"To Bowles" was written by Samuel Taylor Coleridge and published in the 26 December 1794 Morning Chronicle as part of the Sonnets on Eminent Characters series. William Lisle Bowles's poetry was introduced to Coleridge in 1789 and Bowles had an immediate impact on Coleridge's views of poetry. The sonnet celebrates Bowles's status as a poet. The poem also discusses Bowles's political beliefs, as these views also help shaped Coleridge's ideas on government and politics.

To Southey 1844 poem written by Clement Clarke Moore

"To Southey" or "To Robert Southey" was written by Samuel Taylor Coleridge and published in the 14 January 1795 Morning Chronicle as part of his Sonnets on Eminent Characters series. Robert Southey became a close friend of Coleridge during the summer of 1794 and the two originally formed a plan to start an ideal community together. Although the plan fell apart, Coleridge dedicated the poem to his friend and emphasized Southey's poetic abilities. Following the poem, Coleridge further drifted from Southey and the poem was not republished.

References

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