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ALL Nature seems at work. Slugs leave their lair

The bees are stirringbirds are on the wingAnd WINTER, slumbering in the open air,

Wears on his smiling face a dream of Spring!

And I, the while, the sole unbusy thing,

Nor honey make, nor pair, nor build, nor sing.

Yet well I ken the banks where amaranths blow,Have traced the fount whence streams of nectar flow.

Bloom, O ye amaranths! bloom for whom ye may,

For me ye bloom not! Glide, rich streams, away!

With lips unbrighten'd, wreathless brow, I stroll:And would you learn the spells that drowse my soul?

WORK WITHOUT HOPE draws nectar in a sieve,

And HOPE without an OBJECT cannot live.

Written in 1825, Coleridges Work Without Hope is a sonnet relating nature to

the emotions of the speaker. The imagery used throughout the poem is both a

reflection of the natural world and a reference to the speakers mental state.Seasons are used in the poem to relate what the speaker is feeling, and how it

affects his life. Described as lines composed on a day in February, or during the

beginning of spring, we realize that the speaker is truly contemplating the ideaspresented throughout the poem.

Work Without Hope is a sonnet, although it is not written in traditional sonnet

form. The development of the poem is presented the same way as in a sonnet; thepoem develops in the first 12 lines. The last two lines then present the overall

theme of the poem to the reader. Throughout this poem the speaker observes natureat work, and uses the activity to set up a contrast between himself and a busy

natural world. This is illustrated throughout the first six lines of the poem, which

discuss the beauty of nature using classic terms"slugs leave their lair/ the bees

are stirringbirds are on the wing". The contrast is made quite apparent here:And I, the while, the sole unbusy thing,/ Nor honey make, nor pair, nor build, nor

sing. We learn that the speaker has come to the realization that while nature is

beautiful, he struggles to identify himself within this world of purpose andbusiness. Instead, we see him as an observer, not a participant. These are personal

themes throughout Coleridge's life; he often battled with feelings of failure due to a

variety of life events. Please refer to theBiography of S.T.C.for more informationon this topic. Although Coleridges phrase, WINTER slumbering in the open air/

Wears on his smiling face a dream of Spring appears trite and unconvincing, this

http://www.orgs.muohio.edu/anthologies/bijou/vissat/biography.htmhttp://www.orgs.muohio.edu/anthologies/bijou/vissat/biography.htmhttp://www.orgs.muohio.edu/anthologies/bijou/vissat/biography.htmhttp://www.orgs.muohio.edu/anthologies/bijou/vissat/biography.htm

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contrived sentence sets up this idyllic setting as a foil for what the speaker has to

say about his own purposelessness.The speaker then develops his conscious thought in the next six lines. Although

aware of the beauty that surrounds him, he is also conscious of the unsuccessful

picture he presents to such a scene. This is clear when the speaker addressed the

world around him, saying, Bloom, O ye Amaranths! Bloom for whom ye may/For me ye bloom not! Glide, rich streams, away! The speaker recognizes that thisbeauty does not exist for him, and he sees himself as a poor recipient for the

natural world. This parallel between nature and man is a prevalent themethroughout Romantic literature, often elaborated upon by Percy Bysshe Shelley,

among others. Amaranths, coincidentally, are unfading flowers, and exist as yet

another contrast to a speaker who is fading as we speak. He is well aware that hepossesses a lack of success: With lips unbrightened, wreathless brow,I stroll

illustrates his deficiency as compared to this productive natural scene. The speaker

is full of despair; he realizes that he has contributed nothing. He is as sterile as thewinter that preceded this productive spring season.The final theme is illustrated and interpreted in the last two lines of the poem.

WORK WITHOUT HOPE draws nectar in a sieve/And HOPE without an

OBJECT cannot live ends Coleridges poem and summarizes the overall point.Drawing nectar, the sugary-sweet juice of poetic fame, through a sieve is

impossible, as is performing any work without hope. For without hope, there can

never be success. This idea is expanded with the statement that hope cannot livewithout an object, or a point. For if there is nothing to hope for, then where does

hope go? It simply drains away. The speaker is isolated in this world of spring

beauty, the contrast felt all the more because of the life and production thatsurrounds him.

Notes

Line 1: Thesis (all living things are busy)

Lines 1-4: Support for thesis (birds, bees, winter)

Lines 5-6: Contrast (Only the speaker isnt busy.)

Lines 7-10: Transition (The speakerknows the secret of immortality, but he cannotachieve it.)

Lines 11-12: Restatement of problem

Lines 13-14: In the couplet, the speaker reveals the ultimate reason for his failure:despair.

Structure: somewhat unclear, but first twelve lines describe a problem and the lasttwo lines explain its cause.

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Rhyme Scheme: ababbbccddeeff (very unusual)

Difficult words: lair (animals dwelling),pair (verb: to mate), ken (know),amaranth (flower of immortality), nectar (drink of the gods), blow (verb: to

blossom), sieve (a strainer).

Figures of Speech: Personification (Nature working, Winter smiling, Hopeliving/dying, etc.)

Sound techniques: alliteration (leave/lair, bees/birds, smiling/spring, banks/blow,fountains/flow, spells/soul)

Theme: Lack of hope renders meaningful action impossible.