'Frost at Midnight' written by Coleridge.

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  ‘Frost at Midnight’ written by Coleridge is a poem which main romantic characteristics is about the importance of childhood.  He reflects on his childhood whist looking after his son.  In the first stanza Coleridge is looking into his fireplace and notices something blows out of the fireplace and ‘which fluttered on the grate.’  This instincts an unhappy memory for him, it is a childhood memory because it is at school and this is a characteristic of romanticism.  In school the ‘fluttering stranger’ from the fire would fascinate him because it is a piece of nature, which he finds beautiful and thrilling. The second stanza is typical of romanticism because of the images described in the poem.  

‘With unclosed lids, already had I dreamt of my sweet birth-place, and the old church tower.’ ‘On the hot Fair-day.’  This line builds an image of his christening at a large church on a light day in summer.  This would be when the church is surrounded by nature and he is dreaming about how perfect his birth was.  Because he was christened in the summer when there is a lot of nature about this has given a link between nature and God because in an idyllic image there would be nature.  Seeing a fluttering piece of soot in your fire meant that a stranger or visitor was approaching and Coleridge believed that when he saw a fluttering piece of soot at school v then someone would visit him to relieve his boredom at school.  In order to see a fluttering piece of soot he would have to be looking towards the fire, he is looking at the fire because he is fascinated by the nature of the fire and still, years later whilst looking after his son he still looks into the fire because he finds it so beautiful.

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  Whilst thinking about when he went to school in the city he is thinking about his son and hopes that he

‘Shalt thou see and hear the lovely shapes and sound intelligible of that eternal language, which thy God utters.’ Coleridge wishes that his son may witness and love nature as much as he does.  By calling nature the eternal language that God utters he is bringing another link with nature and God. ‘Eternal language’ means that nature will be always be something, which will always be spoken about and understood.  ‘Eternal language, which thy God utters’ is emphasising ...

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