In comparison Baillie uses the regular rhyming of aabbcc in seven out of the eight stanzas, and aabbccdd in the fifth and only eight line stanza. This rhyming effect is a balladic form and this is pointed to in line six by ‘That I should sing of thee?’ and again in the final line by ‘Thou dost heed my lay.’ Most of the lines comprise of eight metrical feet with the exception of the final line of each stanza which has seven metrical feet, this formally ends each stanza and leaves the reader to think about the meaning of the poem. The regular rhyming also controls the pace of the poem and helps to command the way we read. Poetic inversion is evident in the first stanza with, ‘lip awry’ and ‘chrystal spread’ which serves to maintain the consistent rhyming scheme.
Baillie does not seem to identify with the feelings that belong to a parent; this is demonstrated by the lack of emotional language and empathy in the first four stanzas, like ‘helpless thing! What do I see’ and ‘shapeless limbs nor step nor grace.’ Her descriptions could be of any baby, and are quite ordinary and matter of fact. There does however seem to be a turning point in the fifth eight line stanza. Her language becomes softer with the use of ‘warm, grace and kindness’. The infant described by colours ‘ rosy cheek’, ‘pinky hand’, and ‘gold tipped ends’ brings the poem alive and the reader is at last presented with some powerful, vibrant images. The additional two lines indicate the turning point in the poem too.
Baillie uses enjambment to steer the reader to certain points that she is making, and to emphasise their meaning. An example of this is in the fifth stanza. ‘With gold-tipped ends, where circles deep around thy neck in harmless grace so soft and sleekly hold their place.’ The words paint a vivid picture of the child’s ringlets and ‘so soft’ creates a pause, and allows the reader to think about the imagery.
Coleridge uses the recurring theme of imprisonment throughout the poem to indicate that he is unsettled and trapped by his thoughts. He uses ‘inmates, bars’ and ‘pent’ to convey this imagery. The stillness of the flame ‘quivers not’ and the film fluttering being ‘the sole unquiet thing’ also adds to his feeling of unrest. The rich imagery is very apparent in the third stanza where he describes the ‘sky and stars,’ and lakes, mountains and clouds. This language must come from the influence of Coleridge’s early friendship with Wordsworth, especially with the quote ‘shalt wander like a breeze,’ which could quite easily be taken from Wordsworth’s ‘I wandered lonely as a cloud’. He also mentions learning and teaching to give us a feeling of hope for his son’s future ‘and think that thou shall learn far other lore.’ He also relates this teaching theme to God, naming him ‘Great universal Teacher!’ in the third stanza.
Both poets apply extensive use of repetition throughout their poems. Coleridge begins his poem with ’The Frost performs its secret ministry’ and uses this again in the third from last line ‘the secret ministry of frost’ but this time he changes the word order to create a persona of the frost which makes an effective ending to the poem. This also creates the feeling that we have come full circle. This technique is underpinned by the first stanza being set in the present time, the second being set in Coleridge’s own boyhood, and the final stanza bringing us back into the present. The repetition of ‘babe’ in the third stanza serves to display the tenderness that Coleridge feels for his son. When Coleridge repeats ‘sea, hill, and wood’ ‘sea, and hill, and wood’ in the first stanza and ‘by lakes and sandy shores’ and ‘lakes and shores’ in the third stanza, we can truly appreciate how much he rejoices in the countryside, and how he is adamant that his son will experience the countryside, rather than being imprisoned by a city.
The imagery has also come full circle too, with the dying coals of the ‘low-burnt fire’ to the ‘silent icicles’ reflecting the moonlight. The final stanza with its colourful imagery of ‘summer clothe the general earth with greenness, and ‘the redbreast’ follow on from the powerful descriptions of God in the third stanza, to give us the impression that Coleridge is content with his thoughts that his child will have a better childhood in the countryside, and that he is at peace with this knowledge. The repetition of ‘quietly’ and ‘quiet’ also add to this peaceful imagery.
Baillie’s repetition takes on a different form in such that she regularly repeats ‘thy, thou’ and ‘thee’ which is quite formal and impersonal language. She uses colloquial abbreviations like ‘whoe’ver’ ‘e’en’ and ‘half-oped’ coupled with old fashioned words like ‘varlet’ meaning rascal, and ‘lay’ meaning a minstrel’s song or ballad. These techniques associate the poem with the time in which it was written.
The final three stanzas of ‘A Mother to her waking infant’ take on a melancholic feel when Baillie employs words like ‘gloomy, surly, wilt, weary, weak, pity and frail’. The clever repetition of ‘wilt’ in the seventh stanza although meaning will, comes across as also meaning to droop or fade because of the words which surround it, which is very much in context of the pessimistic language.
Although the two poems are predominantly about the same subject matter of childhood, the reader experience is poles apart due to the difference in form, structure, language and imagery. Both poems look to the future, but Coleridge ends with hope and is upbeat, whereas Baillie ends with a sense of sadness. Coleridge draws the reader in with his conversational style and the insight into his thoughts and feelings, and in contrast Baillie could be describing any baby in her balladic form. ‘Frost at Midnight’ thoroughly engages the reader with its rich visual imagery and intimate language, which make the poem a thoroughly enjoyable experience. The contrasting regular form of ‘A Mother to her Waking Infant’ does not really give you an insight into Baillie as a poet. As a reader of ‘Frost at Midnight’ we truly gain an understanding of Coleridge as a parent concerned for his sons future, and the night scene is successful in conjuring up memorable images.
Word count 1412
Bibliography
Taylor Coleridge Samuel, Frost at Midnight
Baillie Joanna, A Mother to her Waking Infant
Wordsworth William, I wandered lonely as a cloud
