mari
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Post by mari on Nov 14, 2017 21:40:40 GMT -6
In the poem, " Constancy to an Ideal Object," Samuel Taylor Coleridge claims that there is a division between his mind and the natural world. "The only constant in a world of change, O yearning Thought! that liv'st but in the brain?" In other words, the only object that will never change is his thoughts. The rest of the world will change on its own. The poems pattern starts off as ABABCC for the first six lines. This pattern continued for the next six lines before it changes at line 13 when the pattern becomes GGHHIIJ. The significance of the change in the pattern at the beginning and the constant stream of its rhyme scheme at the end mimics the consistency of his thought process. The way Coleridge sets up his poem is as if he were to be speaking to himself directly rather than to an audience. "And art thou nothing? Such thou art, as when The woodman winding westward up the glen".
From my understanding, I took the "thou" as being "hope and despair" since the thoughts of hope and despair are thoughts that appear commonly within a lifetime. "Hope and Despair meet in the porch of Death! Yet still thou haunt'st me; and though well I see, She is not thou, and only thou are she, Still, still as though some dear embodied Good". Even though hope and despair are dying thoughts, they still tend to follow him. The use of the word "haunt" makes the words hope and despair have a negative connotation at which Coleridge is not able to get rid of them and that they're constantly on his mind. Although the words have a negative connotation he claims that some hope and despair is known to be "good".
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Post by jordan on Nov 15, 2017 18:43:11 GMT -6
The poem, "Constancy to an Ideal Object" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, was written in the 1800s during the Romantic period. We learned that the Romantic Period was focused on The Sublime, Nature, expressing emotions, and a response to the Enlightenment Period. I believe that the "thou" Coleridge refers to in lines 1 to 10 is the reader. He's expressing his emotions about Nature to the reader. Through his diction, he's awe struck and trying to get the reader to notice their smallness in the "range" of Nature by saying "Hope and Despair meet in the porch of Death." Starting at line 11, "thou" then becomes Nature because Nature is often referred to as "she" (Mother Nature); it also wouldn't make sense for the reader to "haunt" Coleridge centuries later.
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Post by andrea on Nov 16, 2017 10:20:22 GMT -6
In Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem "Constancy To An Ideal Object", the author discusses the difference between his mind and the natural world. One main difference between the two is that, while the natural world is always changing, his thoughts never change to the same degree. Instead, they stay very similar to his original thoughts unlike the natural world, which can, and does, change dramatically. This poem has various elements which make it obvious that its from the Romantic Age, specifically the nature aspect shown throughout the poem. Considering that the entire poem is built around the comparison between himself and the natural world, aspects of the Romantic Age's poetry are very evident. During that time period rejecting science and religion was very prominent since people wanted to focus more on themselves, which is embodied within this entire poem.
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taj
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Post by taj on Nov 16, 2017 16:45:41 GMT -6
Coleridge in "Constancy to An Ideal object" mentions the state of the dichotomy between physical and mental or spiritual. Using a rather pessimistic voice, Coleridge truly embodies despair in his lines. Coleridge essentially claims that reality is shifty, unreliable in that it is always changing. In contrast, the mind holds ideas which will always remain true. Amazed at the consistency and power of the idea, Coleridge takes note that Ideas are truly the driving force of the world rather than the physical - which is a result of ideas in itself. Perhaps the reason why his voice is so negative and pessimistic is because this way of thinking betrays the natural order of thought. While humans normally expect the physical to be the "truth", we refuse to accept that ideas are actually what hold power in the world since we are not able to see them. This idea meshes nicely with his pessimistic tone because it calls to question existence itself. Even if humanity and our physical bodies vanish, wouldn't our ideas remain? While begging this question Coleridge gives a bleak reminder that existence means nothing - it gave itself meaning through the use of our ideas.
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Post by nikymbaw on Nov 16, 2017 18:03:04 GMT -6
When I was reading this poem, I felt that the “thou” is referring to the speaker’s own isolation between his own mind and the natural environment around him. As Jordan pointed out, the poem is very reminiscent of the Romantic Age with its emphasis on being attuned to one's emotions and nature. Throughout the piece, it’s clear the Coleridge is dealing with some form of change of environment, one that is leaving him with a rippling wave of emotions. As indicated in the first stanza, “Since all that beat about in Nature’s range, // Or veer or vanish; why should’st thou remain// The only constant in a world of change,// O yearning Thought!....” this line drives the difference in between Coleridge’s mind and his environment. While Coleridge allows his min to wander, he has trouble in keeping up with an ever changing life. His isolation comes from later on in the stanza where he states “Some living Love before my eyes there stood// With answering look a ready ear to lend,// I mourn to thee and say---‘Ah Loveliest friend!//” This line indicates that Coleridge yearns for some form of “constancy” to share his thoughts and ideas with, however with the small but evolving “range” of Nature he is left to only chase after it as noted in the last line that “Nor knows he makes the shadow, he pursues!”
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Post by Keviana S on Nov 19, 2017 23:08:46 GMT -6
In the poem, "constancy to an ideal object, Coleridge uses 'Only thou' to capture the separateness while also implying the poet's aloneness as a function of that separateness. Coleridge is yearning for a pleasant future. The poet treats his thoughts as this real thing. "Thou" refers to his emotional state. I agree with Mari when she says, " The only object that will change is his thoughts. I therefore, believe that this object does not exist, and it is within his own ideas of change. "Constancy brings an idea of obsession. This poem is an illusion and it is shown throughout the speaker's ideas on physical nature. Coleridge views the physical nature as always changing and fleeting so that the only constant is the yearning thought’ the ‘idea’ of the subject. The poet construes thought believing it to be a living or a spirit that first captures the mind and thereafter the entire body. We all will one day go through the feeling of something overpowering us and there is nothing else in life important.
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kevin
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Post by kevin on Nov 20, 2017 8:51:54 GMT -6
In "constancy to an ideal object", the "thou" Coleridge is referring to is nature, I came to this conclusion after doing a little research on Coleridge and finding that he was one of the founders of the romantic movement. This can really be seen in the final stanza where he says “thou art,” or more modernly you are, followed by a bunch or nature scenes like a woods man in a glen (woods). Also I think that it is not really nature as in the natural world but more or less the idea of nature as in the poem “thou” seems to always be changing, “breathe on thee with life kindling breath”, “ the only constant in a world of change”. That also lends to thou being the idea of nature rather than nature itself as the ideal of nature will stay constant and never change.
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Post by kristin18 on Nov 21, 2017 11:32:45 GMT -6
In "Constancy to an Ideal Object", Samuel Coleridge explains his passion and understanding of the "Constancy" of nature vs. human mind. Using the word 'thou' refers to just that. He wants people to understand that there is a space or thin yet distinguished line between the physical nature that people live in and the state of mind nature that is personally lived in through each person. Coleridge asserts that there is an end to both ["...meet in the porch of Death!"]. Like Jordan said, this was a time where people tried to figure out nature and its entirety vs. their smallness. In the 2nd stanza you see this state of sublime (awe) of Coleridge and his shadow that appears, yet he didn't know that this figure was his actual shadow. The tone of the poem, even with the exclamation points is very negative and lonely but not distant. This is to no surprise to this time period where people are very upfront to their emotions and curiosity.
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Post by nayaj0nes on Nov 23, 2017 16:28:31 GMT -6
The poem “Constancy to an Ideal Object” written by Samuel Taylor Coleridge serves to leave the reader with the speculation of what are the most enjoyable things in life. In a sense the poem is about “constancy” or persistence and that it also takes constancy to mean as a meaningless and worthless obsession because the object in the poem is divulged into not having any existence. To understand this obsession of being worthless, one can look into the rhyme scheme of the poem. The ababcc rhyme scheme is repeated for the first few stanzas of the poem, however, this scheme changes after the 12th line of the poem. It changes to heroic couplets as if to signify that the lovers unmoved constancy is unable to put a stop to the repetition of a hopeless love. I agree with Kristin is saying that the speaker, Coleridge, sets up the poem as if he was speaking to himself rather than an audience. In his reference to though, I believe that he is talking about his hopeless love.
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Post by akmaples on Dec 4, 2017 18:19:00 GMT -6
In Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem "Constancy To An Ideal Object", he discusses the differences between the natural world and the mental. He uses the word “thou” to represent his own isolation. This helps with his as Taj said, “pessimistic voice” he takes in this poem. He is conflicted because unlike the natural world, that is always changing, his thoughts aren’t moving at the same pace. This can be seen as sublime, because he is struggling with the increasing advancement of the natural world compared to his, never changing mental state of mind. I agree with Andrea, when she said, “This poem has various elements which make it obvious that it’s from the Romantic Age.” Since romantic literature dealt a lot with the sublime and humans being conflicted by nature and its beauty, vastness and advancements.
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