Symbols
the source
WIND
Our speaker's down in the dumps, but that doesn't mean that he can't dish up some heaping spoonfuls of symbolism and imagery in this poem. Take the wind, for example. It's a weighty symbol that's meant to emphasize his frame of mind. Rather than a gentle breeze, though, it's a fierce, howling gale that's more appropriate to his stormy mood
- Lines 4-8: The "Aeolian lute" in these lines acts as a metaphor for the sound that the wind makes. And you know what? It's not kicking up enough of a ruckus to match our speaker's mood. If it's just going to blow a little bit, he'd rather it not blow at all ("better far were mute") (8
- Line 15: The wind is not just a mirror of the speaker's mood. He wants it to blow in order to wake up his numb and depressed spirit.
- Lines 97-107: After his general discussion of the importance of joy in the life of the soul, our speaker returns to the wind in these lines. Is it actually howling now? Remember that he complains earlier in the poem that it's not blowing hard enough. Perhaps, then, he's imagining the terrifying wind, which is more suitable for isolated mountain peaks, spooky witch's cabins, and devils' holiday parties. In other words, the dude is in a bad frame of mind.
- Line 129: As much as he invites the wind to blow and rage, symbolizing his disturbed mindset, he hopes that his friend "Lady" only experiences brief versions of such a tempest, the kind that blow over quickly—like the storms over a mountain ("mountain-birth").
NATURE
Nature was a biggie for the Romantics, and our man Coleridge was no exception. speaker in this poem is not talking to us from his living room, after all. He's sat outside, observing the sky and the clouds and the moon. The imagery of these natural surroundings allows him to discuss his dejection—an abstract mood—in a concrete way.
- Lines 9-13: The blackness of a new moon is a ready-made symbol of death and destruction for the speaker, one he borrows in fact from "The Ballad of Sir Patrick Spence." In that other poem, it meant that rough storms were on their way to doom poor Sir Patrick while he was at sea. Here, the speaker wishes, essentially, for a similar fate. At least a violent storm would match what's going on inside his troubled head. Bad times.
- Lines 28-38: Our speaker checks out the sky, what with all its clouds and stars and, now, a crescent moon. Sure, they all look beautiful, but the speaker can't "feel" the impact of their natural beauty. He's that bummed out.
- Lines 48-52: Thanks to the centuries-old language and funky syntax, these lines are a bit tricky to unpack. The gist here, though, is that nature is what you make out of it. If you are in a terrible mood, nature will seem grim and oppressive to you. If you are filled with joy, then all the birdies will seem to sing. It's hard to appreciate nature, though, if you have no love in your life—sniff, sniff.
- Lines 67-68: If you have joy in your life, though, that energy will revitalize the way you see, and connect to, the natural world.
- Lines 80-81: In these lines, nature provides the speaker with a metaphor in the form of a vine, which represents the hope that once grew around the speaker, but that now is gone.
- Line 94: The speaker pulls another symbol from nature. In this case, it's poisonous snakes ("vipers") to represent his disturbed thoughts.
- Lines 100-107: The decay and isolation of the natural settings described here really underscore just how bummed out the speaker seems to be. He even throws in a witch's house and a devils' party for good measure, just in case the lonely mountain peaks and dying flowers weren't enough to do the trick
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