Frost+At+Midnight

 =  Frost at Midnigh    **   t     **    =

In this stanza the poet sits in solitude in his cottage while his infant child sleeps by his side. The poet reflects upon the calmness of the evening and the film that flutters on the grate of the fire. Wordsworth recall his memory of his own childhood. He describes this to be when he is gazing into the fire he will day dream about his hometown. Coleridge returns to his son and thinks of the joys he has yet to experience through God and nature. Coleridge is giving a blessing to his son Hartley. hoping that his son will appreciate nature no matter what the season.
 * What is this poem about?**
 * __Stanza 1__
 * __Stanza 2__
 * __Stanza 3__
 * __Stanza 4__


 * What techniques are used in the poem?**

__ Stanza 1 __
These illustrate nature’s everlasting cycle To establish the calmness of the evening ** Words, phrases ** and **images** such as: Help to establish man in a state of peaceful communion with Nature __ Stanza 2 __ ** //‘ And still my heart leaped up’// Shows how he longs for his home, for the familiar and his family. How he longed to be in the country amongst nature. ** Allusion; ** //‘ To watch the fluttering stranger!’// This line describes the flame, while alluding to the old saying and superstition that a flickering flame suggests a visit from a stranger. This shows his gullible state as a child (he believed in superstitions) and shows how eagerly he wanted to return home as he constantly hopes that the stranger will be a friend or family member come to visit him. Repetition ** of //‘ how oft’// emphasises his restlessness at school **Tone shift** //‘ brooded...stern...snatched...hasty’// the tone shift from the calmness in stanza one, to this in stanza two emphasises his restlessness with society and his restlessness during his school days
 * Symbolism ** is used to introduce the core concerns of the poem:
 * The fluttering film is symbolic of the motion inherent in Nature. Significantly, it is this motion that activates the imagination of the poet
 * The frost is symbolic of a delicately subtle, yet extremely powerful life force
 * Juxtaposition ** of images
 * The new creation of the frost and the slow destruction of the fire
 * Descriptive ** and **figurative language**;
 * // ‘ Tis calm indeed’ //
 * // Inaudible as dreams //
 * // This hush of nature //
 * // Echo //
 * // Mirror //
 * // Dim sympathies //
 * // Companionable form //
 * // Slumbering infant //
 * Personification;

__ Stanza 3 __
= Juxtaposition = //‘ for I was reared in the great city**, pent’** mid cloister dim, And saw naught **lovely** but the skies and stars.’// The juxtaposition of the words pent and lovely, emphasise that the city in all its advancements held no beauty for him and that it was the lovely country for which he longed. Shows his love for nature and his belief it is better than the city ** Simile ** ‘ //But thou, my babe! Shalt wander like a breeze’// This simile shows the freedom that is felt when out in nature, that he believes that he son shall feel true freedom and beauty because he is raised in the country. The simile also contrasts to the image of the ‘ pent’ city. ** Imagery ** //‘ By lakes and sandy shores, beneath the crags of ancient mountain, and beneath the clouds, Which image in their bulk both lakes and shores…’// This creates a wonderful image in the readers mind and we see the beauty of nature, the unity between the clouds and earth as the clouds mirror the nature below __**Stanza 4**__ ** Personification ** //‘ Whether summer clothe the general earth’// The personification of the seasons brings them to life, making nature once again seem sublime and awe inspiring ** Imagery / Sound imagery ** //** ‘ ** or the redbreast sit and sing Betwixt the tufts of snow on the bare branch of mossy apple tree’ // This allows the audiences to in a way experience the nature as we create an image in our mind and hear the sound of the birds singing. ** Repetition ** § of //‘ the secret ministry’// at the end of the poem, gives poem a cycle like that of nature. The poems has gone full circle and the unity of the design and flow of the poem reflects the unity and cycle of nature and of earth.  § // Quietly shining to the quiet Moon’ - T ////he repetition reinforces the reciprocal relationship with nature//
 * What links does this poem have to Romanticism?**